Moments 2
by Piper Elizabeth
Summary: A series of one-shots from season 3 that fill in some missing Burzek moments from the show as well as some added ones. They will all be centered around Burgess and Ruzek. This is follow-up to my story "Moments," but you don't really have to read the first one for this story to make sense. These stories will be separate from the original story.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Moments Part 2

 **Rating:** Strong T for some language and normal adult behavior

 **Disclaimer:** Chicago PD and its affiliated characters do not belong to me. I mean no copyright infringement. I only use them as a means to de-stress myself.

 **Summary:** A series of one-shots from season 3 that fill in some missing Burzek moments from the show as well as some added ones. They will all be centered around Burgess and Ruzek. This is follow-up to my story "Moments," but you don't really have to read the first one for this story to make sense. These stories will be separate from the original story.

 **Spoilers:** Pretty much any Burgess/Ruzek moments throughout the series.

 **Note:** This chapter takes place right after season 3, episode 1 (after Halstead gets kidnapped and returned).

 **Chapter 1 - Thoughts**

Kim sat on the sofa, her feet tucked underneath her, a blanket over her lap. She had a glass of white wine in one hand. The TV was on, but she wasn't really watching it. She was just staring straight ahead, thinking. She glanced down at her phone, checking the time. Adam was due any moment. He had texted to say he was coming over and bringing food. Kim hadn't seen him for most of the day and she was looking forward to it. It had been a long day. With Halstead's kidnapping, the danger of their jobs was front and center. Kim couldn't stop thinking about what Roman had said to her in the stairwell earlier in the day. Halstead could have been Adam. Adam could easily have been the one who was kidnapped and beaten and almost killed. Kim couldn't get the image out of her head.

When the door behind her opened, Kim was so startled, she nearly spilled her wine. She glanced over and saw Adam walking through the door, a pizza box in his arms. Her body immediately relaxed when she saw it was him.

"Hey babe," he said.

"Hey. How's Halstead?"

Adam put the pizza down in the kitchen. Kim turned off the TV.

"They're taking care of him at Chicago Med. He's gonna be ok."

"That's good."

"Yeah. Atwater's organizing this whole thing at Molly's tonight. You know, to celebrate getting Halstead back. A whole bunch of us are going. Wanna come?"

"Yeah, sure," she agreed.

"Alright. I'm just gonna change and then we can go together. I brought pizza. Grab some before it gets cold."

Adam walked over to the couch and kissed her on the top of the head.

"Yeah, I will."

"What's that?" Adam asked, pointing to what appeared to be some sort of photo album on the coffee table.

"Platt's wedding album."

"What?"

Adam walked around the couch and sat down beside Kim. She put her wine down on the table. He opened up the album and laughed.

"Wait…Platt gave this to you?" He asked.

"Yeah. I guess she was engaged once. This was like her dream wedding album."

Adam flipped through the pages. He stopped on the wedding dress.

"Please tell me you won't be wearing that."

"Oh come on," Kim teased. "You don't like it?" Adam raised his eyebrows. "I think I'd look good in that."

"Listen, babe, you can get married in anything…Jeans, pajamas, I don't care and you'd be the most beautiful woman in the room. But please don't wear that."

She laughed. "Flip to page six. It's the hairstyles she wanted."

Adam turned the pages and stopped on page six. It was a two-page spread of different hairstyles cut out of magazines. They were straight out of the 1980's. Each hairdo was bigger than the last.

"Oh my goodness," Adam said, in awe of what he was looking at. "I cannot imagine Platt getting married."

"Me either. She never did walk down the aisle."

"What happened?"

"I don't know and I don't want to know," Kim answered honestly.

"Well, she may not have actually gotten married but she did keep this book for practically three decades," Adam said. "Why'd she give it to you?"

"She wants to be our wedding planner."

Adam grabbed Kim's wine and took a long sip.

"You gotta prepare me before you say a statement like that," Adam said. Kim smiled. "You told her no, right?"

"Have you ever tried to say no to Platt?"

"She is not planning our wedding," he stated.

"I'll…handle her," Kim assured him. "I'll give her a task or something to do."

"As long as it's not hair or the dress."

"Maybe she can take care of the flowers?" Kim suggested. "I mean, can you really screw up flowers?"

Adam flipped through a few more pages. He stopped on a page that had floral bouquets all in pink.

"Yes, yes you can."

"We're doomed," Kim said, straight-faced.

Kim took the wine from him and took a few more sips. She swung her feet around so that they were resting on Adam's lap. He began massaging her bare feet.

"It'll be alright. As long as I get to marry you, I don't care if it's surrounded by pink carnations and cheap, blow-up party balloons."

She laughed. "I think we can skip the party balloons."

"I do have some wedding news, though."

"What's that?"

"I asked Kevin to be my best man today," he told her.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. He's already planning a bachelor party."

"We don't even have a date set for the wedding yet," she reminded him.

"I know. That's what I told him. But, hey, if he wants to throw me a party, I'm not going to complain."

"Don't bachelor parties generally take place closer to the date of the wedding? You know, the whole 'last night of freedom' thing?"

"Yeah, well, a party's a party. I'll take one whenever."

Kim finished the wine. Adam watched her as she sat silently beside him, staring straight ahead. He tickled her foot playfully, but got no reaction.

"You ok?" He asked. "I promise we won't go too crazy with the bachelor party. One stripper. Maybe two," he joked.

"It's not about the bachelor party."

"Then what's wrong?" He asked.

"Just…today…with Halstead being taken…it could have easily been you."

"But it wasn't," he assured her.

Kim removed her feet from his lap. She sat up and scooted closer to him. He put his arm around her as she snuggled against him, resting her head on his chest. He kissed her forehead.

"I know. Roman just put these thoughts in my head and I couldn't stop thinking about it all day."

"Forget Roman. Sometimes that guy doesn't know when to shut up. I'm here and I'm ok."

"Yeah."

Adam began running his fingers through her hair, playing with her brunette locks. He loved playing with her hair.

"But I can't say I didn't have a familiar feeling today," he admitted.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"When Voight got the call about making the trade for Halstead, they asked for a female officer. He didn't tell us that until right before the meeting was supposed to take place. Before Lindsey showed up, Voight wanted you to bring those files to exchange for Halstead."

"What? I didn't know that."

"Yeah, well, I said no," he told her.

"What?"

"I told Voight that I didn't want you to go," he clarified.

Kim sat up, purposefully positioning her body so they were no longer physically touching.

"You can't do that. You can't tell Voight no."

"Yeah, he wasn't too pleased with me."

"Adam, this is serious," Kim continued. "You can't tell a sergeant no. Especially because that wasn't your choice to make."

"The situation was dangerous, Kim. Too dangerous. There were too many holes in the operation, too many chances for you to get hurt. There was no way in hell I was going to let you go into that house with no backup and no weapon. You heard what happened to Lindsey."

"Yes, I heard but…"

"She had to stab that guy with a letter opener to save her life!" Adam continued.

"It might have been dangerous, but she got out of there, Adam. She and Halstead got out because she's smart and she's a good cop. I'm smart, too, Adam. I'm a good cop, too."

"I know that. I know that you're smart and you're a good cop. You're the best, but…."

"There's no buts about it! Why would you think I wasn't capable of making that trade, Adam?" She exclaimed.

"It's not that I didn't think you were capable, Kim," Adam insisted. He tried to reach out and touch her, but she pulled away. "Look, I know you are an amazing cop. I know that you're capable of anything and everything, but that doesn't mean that I don't get to be protective. That doesn't mean that I can't try to protect you!"

"That is what it means, Adam. If Voight wants me to do something, I am going to do it whether it is dangerous or not! You know I want to be in Intelligence more than anything. You know that it's opportunities like that that will help me make a name for myself."

"You don't have to make a name for yourself. Voight knows how amazing you are. That's why he thought of you first."

"And then you told him no! I don't need my boyfriend to stick up for me."

"Fiancé," he corrected.

"It's hard enough for female cops in the department without having you and everyone else think we're not capable of something. I don't need you to protect me, Adam. I need you to…"

Adam interrupted her with a kiss. She was so surprised, she barely kissed him back. But it didn't take long for her to respond. He leaned into her, pinning her body under his.

"I will always protect you, whether you like it or not," he said quietly when they both came up for air.

She sighed, knowing that arguing wasn't going to get them anywhere. She knew she could never stop him from trying to keep her safe.

"I guess if I reversed the situation, if I knew you were going undercover to meet up with those guys instead of Halstead, I would have done the same thing." She paused. "That was Roman's whole point."

"Roman? What does this have to do with Roman?"

"He was just talking about how we have these dangerous jobs and one of us is always left wondering if the other is ok or hurt. It's never not going to be that way, Adam. We're always going to worry. I am always going to wonder if you're safe and…"

"Hey, hey," he said, cupping her cheek with his hand. "I love you. That's all that matters."

She nodded. "You're right."

"Look, this wasn't the first time we've been worried about each other. And it won't be the last. But we'll get through whatever comes our way together. Ok?"  
"Ok," she agreed.

"Come on, let's forget about all of that and go celebrate at Molly's."

She nodded. "That sounds like a very good idea."

Adam stood up. He held out his hand and helped pull Kim to her feet. Before he let her go, he made sure he kissed her to remind her that he loved her.

Author's Note: I've been working on this story for a very long time – basically since the season began. However, after the break-up, I stopped writing this story because I wasn't interested in writing any chapters about Kim and Adam separated. However, I am finally emotionally ready (and I have the time) to write the rest of these one-shots. Thank you to CPDRuzekFan for your latest review on my last Moments story. It was your words that encouraged me to start posting this chapter. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – Thrice Engaged**

Kim had had hours to think about Adam's two previous engagements. She and Roman had been stuck in their police car all day on a stakeout and she had nothing to do but think about Adam's previous relationships. Kim had heard the rumors that people thought she and Adam were jumping into marriage too fast. After all, they had only been dating a year and when they first started seeing each other, Adam had just broken off his engagement with Wendy. Kim had managed to ignore the rumors and had tried to remain positive about the idea of spending her life with the man she loved. That was, of course, until she heard Atwater mention that Adam had been engaged not once, but twice. The news had come as a complete shock to Kim who had only known about Wendy.

Kim had spent the morning wondering what Adam's explanation could be about why he hadn't told her about his first engagement. Even after he explained it to her in text message, another part of the whole equation that aggravated her, she still felt lied to and misled.

Adam had asked Kim to join him for dinner that night. She knew he probably want to smooth things over. She agreed. They were halfway through their meal of takeout Chinese food from a restaurant down the block, though, and Adam hadn't mentioned his engagements at all.

"Why do you want to get married?" Kim blurted out after suffering through an almost silent dinner.

With his mouthful, Adam nearly choked on his lo mein. "What?"

"Why do you want to get married?" She repeated. "Is it just for the parties and the attention?"

"Of course not. I love you, Kim. You know that."

"I know, but this isn't what being engaged and getting married is supposed to be about, Adam."

"So you're mad because Kevin is throwing me a bachelor party?" He asked.  
"I don't care about the bachelor party, Adam! I don't even care if you get drunk and go to a strip club! I'm mad because you were engaged twice before and didn't tell me."

"I explained that to you…"

"Yeah, in a text message! Not to mention the fact that when I mentioned pushing our wedding date back a year, you didn't even bat an eyelash!"

"You're the one who suggested pushing the wedding back!" He countered.

"You weren't supposed to agree!"

"So what was that? A test?" He questioned.

"No. Yes. I don't know!" She threw her hands up in the air in frustration.

"I want to marry you, Kim," he stated matter of factly.

"Do you want to marry me or do you want to spend your life with me because they are two different things. Getting married isn't just about the wedding and the parties and our friends and family showering us with gifts. Getting married should be about what happens after all of that. Can we survive the trials and tribulations of sharing a life together?"

"Of course we can."

Kim shook her head. "I don't know if I believe that."

Kim looked down at her left hand. She stared at the sparkling engagement ring that had been on her finger for weeks. From the minute Adam had put it on her finger, it felt like it belonged there, but staring at it in that moment, it felt wrong.

"Kim…" Adam began.

"I think we need to slow down," she said quietly.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Nicole earlier. It was nothing. It barely even…"

"I think we both need to think about if this is what we really want," she interrupted.

"What does that mean?"

Kim looked down at her ring. She debated taking it off and handing it back to him, but she didn't want to take it off. She never wanted to take it off.

"I need time," she finally said after contemplating her options. "We both do."

"Look, we can push the wedding back if that's what you really want or…or...we can get married tomorrow at city hall. I don't care. I just want us to be together. Please…"

"I'm not saying it's over," Kim interrupted. "I just need a little time to think. Ok?"

Adam nodded. "Ok."

Kim stood up.

"I'll…call you," she said.

"I love you," he replied.

Kim nodded, knowing it was true. But that didn't mean she was ready to have the serious talk they needed. Walking away, Kim knew she was in for a long, lonely night.

Hours later, Adam rolled over in bed for what felt like the hundredth time. He couldn't sleep. After telling Kevin what happened, Kevin offered to take Adam out for drinks, but Adam declined. He didn't want to drown his sorrows in alcohol. He just wanted Kim beside him.

Adam flicked on the light next to his bed. He sat up and started reviewing what went wrong with Kim in his head. He knew he didn't have the best track record when it came to engagements, but he knew things with Kim were different. He just had to get her to see it that way. Adam scrambled out of bed. His clock read 2:24, but he didn't care what time it was. He didn't want another minute to go by without Kim knowing how he felt.

Adam made his way over to his bureau. After throwing on Jeans and a clean T-shirt, he began rummaging through the top drawer. It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for. After getting his hands on the two small boxes, Adam threw on a pair of shoes, grabbed his keys and wallet and made his way to the car.

With no traffic, it took Adam only ten minutes to get to Kim's apartment. Even though they had moved in together a few weeks before, Kim had chosen to keep her apartment until her lease was up. It just made it easier to keep some of her things at her own place until they figured out what they were going to do with everything.

Bounding up the steps to her apartment, Adam stopped outside her door. He took a deep breath, calming himself down. He knocked and waited. Nothing happened. Adam knocked a second time. He knew she was probably sleeping, but he also knew she was a light sleeper. A few seconds later, he heard rustling on the other side of the door.

"Go home, Adam," Kim said through the door. She had obviously seen him through the peep hole.

"Not until you hear me out."

"I told you, I need time. We need time."

"No. We don't."

"Adam, please."

"Just let me in. I want to show you something. Please."

There was a few seconds pause before Kim opened the door. Adam quickly went inside, hoping that if he was fast enough, she wouldn't change her mind. He took in her appearance. She was wearing one of his T-shirts and a pair of fuzzy pajama pants. Her cheeks were splotched with shades of red. It was obvious she had been crying. He hated knowing that he had been the one to make her cry.

"What did you want to show me?" She asked.

"This."

Adam reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the small boxes. It was black velvet. He opened it up. Inside was a small, diamond ring.

"Adam, what are you doing? I already have a ring."

"It's not for you," he said.

Kim looked at him quizzically. "Ok. So why are you showing me somebody else's engagement ring?"

"This was Nicole's engagement ring."

"You are really not helping your case here," Kim said.

"Just hear me out. I should have told you about Nicole and I'm sorry. It was a long time ago. Like I told you, we were young and stupid and I didn't even know what love was then. The ring's not even a real diamond. Our relationship lasted a summer. That's it."

"And yet you still had a bachelor party," she pointed out.

"Somehow my buddies got wind of it and they threw me this stupid bachelor party that summer. Oliver organized it. We just went bar hopping. It was stupid. Like I said, by Halloween, it was over. Thankfully, we were both smart enough to realize that we weren't really in love with each other. It was just puppy love. I haven't even spoken to her since she gave me this ring back years ago."

"I just wish you had told me."

"I know. I should have. I'm sorry. I wasn't intentionally keeping her from you, Kim. She's just…I don't think about it. That's how unimportant the whole thing was. It was over before it started."

Adam closed up the ring box and put it back in his pocket. He pulled out the second box.

"Please don't tell me that that's…" Kim began.

Adam opened the box and showed her a large diamond ring that was shinier than anything Kim had seen before.

"This was Wendy's," he explained.

"Adam, I don't really need to hear about you and Wendy."

"Yes you do. Because you need to know why I did the things I did."

"I think I need to sit down for this one."

Kim made her way over to the couch and sat down. She was afraid she wasn't going to like what she was about to hear. Wendy had always been a sore subject for them. Kim had always felt a little responsible for Adam and Wendy breaking up. Not to mention that she didn't like to think about the short amount of time between Adam's breakup and Kim practically jumping his bones in her hallway. She liked to think that she had more respect for herself than that, but clearly not when it came to Adam.

Adam followed her over to the couch. He perched on the arm of a chair so he could face her.

"Wendy and I met at a mutual friend's party. We didn't even like each other at first. I thought she was stuck-up and she thought I was reckless."

"Both true statements," Kim said.

"Yeah, you could say that again. Anyway, after meeting each other a few more times, we started to hit it off. We started dating and things were good. I felt like I was working on the career I always wanted and I thought I had the woman I always wanted. After a few years together, people started asking us when we were going to get married. It became a weekly occurrence for her parents to drop hints about an engagement ring. I just go so fed up with all of the questions, I finally decided to pop the question."

"So you were pressured into it?"

"I'm not going to blame other people. I made my decision to ask her, but it never felt right. The worst part was, I knew if I didn't do the proposal right, she'd say no. She always liked things a certain way. So I made a reservation at the fanciest restaurant in the city. We both got all dressed up and after we had our dessert, I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me in front of the whole restaurant. I knew from the minute I proposed to her, it wasn't right. I wasn't in it for the right reasons, but it was too late to take it back," Adam explained.

"So you just stayed engaged to her?"

"I thought maybe I would learn to deal with. That it would get better," Adam continued. "But with her, being engaged was all about the parties and the attention. It drove me crazy. So I just kept pushing that wedding back until she finally realized that I didn't really want to marry her at all. And then when I met you, I knew I couldn't marry her. It might have taken me a long time to figure that out, but I finally did."

"So she got proposed to in the nicest restaurant in Chicago and I got the locker room," Kim said.

"I'm sorry. It's just…my proposal to Wendy was so over the top because I knew that's what she wanted. It wasn't me, Kim. That's not my style and you know that. I did it all the way she wanted. It was liked I was just checking things off some grand proposal list. But you…I thought about every way I could propose to you. Trust me, I considered all of the nice restaurants in Chicago and sunset at the park and getting down on one knee in front of your family, but then I realized that not only is that not my style, but it's not us. We're not fancy. We're just us and that's why I love you. I'm sorry if the proposal wasn't what you imagined or…"

"It's ok. It might not have been what I imagined, Adam, but it was perfect. And you're right, it was us. It was just…sudden. I felt like I was taken off guard. We never even talked about getting married.

"I know."

"I just…" she trailed off.

"Just what?"

"I just want to make sure this is right. I don't want to be one of those couples who get divorced after a year because we didn't take our marriage seriously enough to begin with. If I'm going to do this, Adam, if I'm going to walk down the aisle with someone, I want to make sure it's forever."  
"It will be forever. I don't care about the bachelor party. I would walk down to city hall right now and marry you."

"I don't think city hall is open at 2 in the morning," she said with a smile.

"You know what I mean." Adam stood up and sat next to her on the couch. "I love you. I want to spend every day with you for the rest of my life. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Nicole. I'm sorry you thought I was more interested in the fun parts of the wedding than the marriage. This thing that we have, it is right. I've never felt this right with anybody else."

"Me either."

"You know what I thought after I proposed to you and you said yes?"  
"What?"

"I thought to myself, 'you finally got it right. You finally said the right words to the right girl.' You're it for me, Kim."

She smiled. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Adam leaned over and kissed her. He fell on top of her on the couch, their hands roaming and their mouths exploring each other's bodies. Kim arched her neck and back as Adam assaulted her neck with kisses. She opened her eyes just enough to see the ring on her finger. She smiled to herself and then let the man she loved make love to her.

Author's Note: For the record, I will be writing about Adam and Kim's impending break-up, but not quite yet. Thanks for all of the great reviews on my first chapter. I hope you enjoyed this one just as much!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - Drive**

"I gotta do something," Adam said as he took a bite of his roast beef sandwich.

"About what?" Kevin questioned.

They were sitting together around the table in the break room, both of them eating sandwiches they got delivered from a local deli. Adam popped a potato chip in his mouth, sipping on a soda. It was a slow day in Intelligence. They were both grateful for the break.

"About Kim."

"Something wrong?"

"I think she's still a little pissed about finding out I was engaged twice before," Adam explained. 'A little pissed' was an understatement. Even after Adam had showed up at her apartment and explained each engagement in detail, and they spent the night making love, he could still feel Kim's cold shoulder in the morning.

"I thought you two talked it out?" Kevin said. "I thought you explained everything."

"I did, but she's a woman, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. Women sure as hell know how to hold grudges."

"True, but I can't really blame her," Adam admitted. "I should have told her about being engaged to Nicole. I thought I had to be honest."

"And maybe explaining Nicole in a text message wasn't one of your finest moments."

"We were both working! What else was I supposed to do? Besides, you're the one who told her about Nicole in the first place," Adam reminded him.

"I thought she already knew about Nicole! This isn't my fault, man."

"Yeah, I know."

"So…what are you thinking?" Kevin asked.

"About what?"

"You said you wanted to do something for Kim to smooth things over. So, what are you thinking? Fancy dinner? Night out on the town? Romantic dinner at home?"

"I don't know," Adam admitted. "But it's got be something good, you know. Something different."

"Hmm…that festival is coming to town next weekend," Kevin suggested.

"So we can ride the Ferris wheel together? This isn't high school."  
"Ok. Fine. That new restaurant opened downtown. It's supposed to be fancy. Good food, good drinks."

"Yeah, maybe…" Adam replied, not in love with the idea. He needed something special to remind Kim that he loved her.

"Didn't she say she loves Burnham Park?"

"Yeah. She goes running there sometimes in the mornings. She says there's nowhere in that park with a bad view. She always used to bug me about taking a picnic there. We just never had the time."

"Well, maybe now's the time."

"A picnic in the park?" Adam wondered out loud. "Really? You think that's romantic enough?"  
"You said she's been asking you to take her there. Besides, sometimes seeing a place you like to visit in a different light with somebody you love can be the most romantic thing in the world," Kevin said.

Lindsey popped her head into the room.

"Voight wants us," Lindsey told them.

"We'll be right there," Kevin replied, finishing the last bite of his sandwich. He stood up to throw his garbage away. Adam stayed in his seat, gazing off into space. "Ruzek, you coming?"

Adam blinked, his mind full of ideas. "Yeah, I'm coming."

A few days later, Adam pulled the car up to the corner near Kim's apartment building. He got out of the car, made sure he locked in, and then jogged up to Kim's building. Thankfully someone was exiting the building as he was entering so he didn't have to buzz in. It would make the surprise that much better. It was almost five o'clock, the perfect time to pull off what he had planned.

Adam made his way to her apartment. He knocked loudly. The door opened a few moments later.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey."

Adam was happy to see she was in form-fitting Jeans and a plain, red shirt that showed off the cleavage he loved so much. Her hair was down, her feet bare. It was exactly the way he loved to see her.

"You are so beautiful."

"Ok…" Kim said, unsure of what was going on. She appreciated the flattery, but knew something was up. "What's going on?"

"I have a surprise for you."

"I thought you were going out with the guys tonight?"

Adam had made up the little white lie so that he could get everything ready for the evening he had planned.

"Change of plans. Besides, you're more important."

She smiled. "What kind of surprise?" She asked, her eyes lighting up. Adam knew no woman could refused a surprise, romantic date. It made him happy to see Kim so happy.

"You're just going to have to wait to find out."

Adam reached out and took Kim's hand. He stepped into her apartment. First thing was first. They needed a proper start to their date. He leaned in and kissed her hard and fast.

"This better not be the surprise," Kim moaned in between kisses.

Adam laughed. "Let's just say that's not the only surprise." Adam took her hands in his and looked into her eyes. "I know things with this engagement haven't exactly been going as planned…"

"Because you kept the fact that you were engaged twice before from me," Kim reminded him.

"Actually, you knew about one of them."

"Are you really going to argue with me on this one right now?"

"No. Sorry," he mumbled even though he didn't really know what he was sorry for. She was the one who basically started the argument. Then again, he had learned a long time ago that it was always in a man's best interest to just say 'sorry' even if he didn't know why.

"So…about this surprise…" Kim prompted.

"Come here."

Adam led her over to the window, glad that her apartment faced the street. Kim looked around the outside, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. She didn't know what she was supposed to be looking for.

"So…what am I looking at?"

"The car," he answered.

He pointed to a red convertible parked across the street. It was the same car that he had driven to her apartment.

"Why am I looking at a fancy car?" Kim asked.

"Because it's ours."

Kim's jaw dropped. She whirled back around to look at Adam.

"What? You bought us a Mercedes? Adam, what the hell were you thinking? First of all, we can't afford it. We're trying to plan a wedding. We're trying to start a life together! And this is Chicago! What is the point of owning a car like this in Chicago? In the winter it's freezing and the traffic is always ridiculous! Not to mention the pollution! And did you forget about…"

"Are you through?" He asked, cutting her off.

"No, I'm not through!"

"I rented it," he explained.

Kim looked at him, confused. She really had no idea what was going on.

"What? You didn't buy it?"

"No. I didn't buy it."

"Ok," she said, trying to make sense of what Adam was telling her. "So…why did you rent it? You have a car, Adam."

"I rented it for today," he said. "For us."

"I don't understand."

"It's part of the surprise."

"You're not making any sense," she said.

"Do you trust me?" He asked.

"Of course I do."

"Then, just go with it."

"Go with what?"

"With the romantic evening I have planned," he said. "Now come on, we gotta go or we're going to miss it."

"Miss what?"

"Didn't I just say that you have to trust me?"

She sighed. "Fine."

"Ok. Then let's go," he said, tugging on her arm.  
Kim pointed to her bare feet.

"You won't need shoes."  
Adam didn't skip a beat. He scooped her up in his arms bridal style. She immediately put her arms around his neck.

"Adam, what are you doing?"  
"Trust me," he whispered, kissing her on the cheek.

Adam carried her out of the building and to the car. She couldn't help but giggle as he unlocked the car. Somehow he managed to open the door with her still in his arms. He placed her gently in the passenger seat and then closed the door. Kim had never been inside a brand new luxury vehicle before. It still had the new car smell. The lush carpet on her naked toes felt amazing.

Adam jogged to the other side of the car and got in. He pushed the start button and the car purred to life. He pressed another button and the roof of the car began folding towards the back. Adam was happy that the weather was cooperating with them.

"Impressive," Kim said. She grabbed a hair elastic from around her wrist and promptly put her hair in a pony tail.

"Now this is the life," Adam said. He winked at Kim, took the car out of park, and sped down the road.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going?" Kim asked, her hair whipping around even in the ponytail.

"No."

"Can you at least tell me if I am dressed appropriately?" She asked. "Even though I have no shoes."

"You look beautiful."

"That's not what I asked."

"Well, that's going to be my answer every time," he replied. "Because it's the truth."

"You're very frustrating, you know that?" She asked with a smile. She was loving this fun, playful side of him. They didn't often get a chance to just be a normal couple doing romantic things. Usually one or both of them was too busy chasing bad guys.  
"Isn't that why you love me?"

"Just keep telling yourself that," she replied sarcastically.

He put his hand on her knee. They drove in silence, both enjoying the experience of the wind in their faces. About twenty minutes later, Adam turned into the park.

"We're going to the park? It's almost dark. The park closes at dark."

"Good thing we're the police and we patrol the park at night."

Adam slowed the car down as they drove down the winding roads. He knew exactly where he was going. It was the most beautiful place in the park, off the beaten path, but totally worth it. He had scoped it out days earlier after work one night. He wanted everything to be perfect. Adam started driving up a steep hill.

"I don't think this car was meant for off-roading," Kim said.

"It'll make it."

They drove straight up for a few minutes. When they came to the top, it flattened out. Adam parked the car right at the edge. In front of them was a spectacular view of the city. Behind them was the beautiful, green park.

"Adam, this is…amazing," she said.

He looked down at the time on his cell phone.

"It's about to get better."

Adam got out of the car and popped the trunk. He pulled out a large picnic basket. After closing the trunk, he put the basket on the back trunk of the car. He climbed into the backseat, motioning for Kim to join him. She just climbed over the front seat, loving that the car didn't have a roof and she could move around freely. They both perched themselves on the back of the car, their legs dangling on the backseat. Adam turned around and opened the picnic basket. He pulled out a bottle of expensive wine and two wine glasses. After uncorking the wine and pouring some into the two wine glasses, he passed one of them to Kim.

"Thank you," she said.

"To us," he said, holding up his glass.

"To us."

They touched their glasses together before each taking a sip.

"You hungry?" He asked. "I've got some cheese and crackers."

"Maybe in a few minutes. I just want to…sit here with you."

She leaned her head on his shoulder as they looked over the bustling city. The sun was beginning to set. The sky was full of brilliant pink and orange hues. Neither of them spoke. Instead they just held hands and enjoyed the view. As the sun lowered in the sky, the lights from the city began to turn on. It was like a light show just for them. Kim shivered. Adam grabbed a blanket from the picnic basket and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"Thank you," she said. "For all of this. It's incredible."

"Well, you always said you wanted a picnic in the park."  
"This is better than any picnic."

"And you haven't even tasted the chocolate covered strawberries for dessert yet."

"You didn't have to do all of this," she stated.

"Yes I did. I love you, Kim. I want you to know that."

"I know."

"And I'm serious about this wedding and this marriage. There is no one else I want to spend my life with."

She smiled. "I love you. And I love chocolate covered strawberries."

Adam chuckled. He reached behind him and pulled out the container of chocolate covered strawberries. He knew they were Kim's favorite dessert. He took the cover off and took out a strawberry. He held it out to her. She licked her lips, but instead of taking the strawberry from him with her hands, she took it between her teeth. The juice squirted from her mouth. Before she could wipe her mouth, Adam leaned forward and kissed the juice from her chin. His lips found hers, the taste of the chocolate and strawberry mixing between them.

"Ever had sex in the back of a Mercedes?" He asked.

"No, but there's a first time for everything."

Adam smiled and pulled her into the backseat.

Author's Note: This was a fun one – although it is getting more difficult for me to come up with romantic date ideas since I've written so many other "one-shots" for this couple. If you have any romantic date ideas (probably for future stories), let me know! I'm always looking for inspiration! Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – Reinstated**

(Just for reference - this chapter takes place during season 3, episode 4)

It was 8:30 PM. Kim had been working for over twenty-four hours straight. She was pretty sure she was become delirious. With gloved hands, she picked up a small handgun and logged the number on the computer that was written on the tag attached to the gun. She placed the gun aside and started on the next one. She had been working on inputting the information for hours. That was after coming off a double shift. Once she finished typing up the information for another gun, Kim stood up. She needed to stretch. She brought the bucket of cataloged guns that she just completed across the room. She looked back. There were still half a dozen buckets to go. Sighing, Kim was about to go back to her small work station when she heard someone running in. She looked to the door. Before she could register what was happening, Adam had burst through the door, ran over to her, wrapped his arms around her, and began to spin her in the air.

"Adam!" She exclaimed. "What is going on?

He planted her back on her feet and kissed her. She barely had time to react.

"I'm back," he said a moment later.

"What?"

"I got my job back. My gun, my badge, everything."

Kim smiled. "That's amazing! How?"

"Platt. It was all Platt."

"What did she do?"

"I don't know and I don't care. All I know is I'm back, baby."

He twirled her around once more before kissing her a second time.

"I'm so happy for you."

"We're all going to celebrate at Molly's. Come on."

Adam grabbed her hand and tugged on her arm for her to follow him, but she didn't move.

"I can't. Not right anyway."

"Why not?"

Kim looked around the room. "I have to finish."

"The case is closed, Kim. This can wait until tomorrow."

"I'm back on regular shift tomorrow. Besides, Platt wants this done tonight and I don't think we're in any position to ask her for another favor."

"I guess you're right."

Kim wrapped her arms around Adam's neck.

"You know, I could get this done a lot faster if there were two of us."

Adam glanced at all of the guns still waiting to be cataloged. He knew it would take a while and the last thing he wanted to do was sit there and catalog guns. Just as Kim had worked three shifts, he had been stuck at the precinct for the same amount of time,

"I want to celebrate," he stated, almost whining.

"Ok. I get it. Look, why don't you go to Molly's with the guys and I'll meet you there when I'm done."

"You sure?" He asked.

"Yeah. Just give me…an hour."

"Ok. I'll see you later."

He leaned in and kissed her gently.

"Bye," she said.

Adam waved as he jogged out of the room. Kim could see the skip in his step. He was happy, which made her happy. Taking a deep breath, she turned back to the task at hand. She would be lucky if she finished with the guns in an hour.

Ninety minutes later, Kim trudged to the front desk of the precinct, her bag slung over her shoulder. She had finally finished with all of the guns. She dropped the computer on the desk in front of Platt.

"They're all in there," Kim said.

"How come you're not at Molly's celebrating with boy wonder?" Platt asked.

"Because I was finishing with the guns like you told me."

"The case is closed, Burgess. Those guns could have waited."

Kim sighed. "Now you tell me. Have a good night, Sarg."

Kim turned around to leave, but then stopped. She knew she couldn't leave without saying one more thing. She turned back to address Platt.

"Need something else, Burgess?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Adam told me that it was you who got him reinstated. So thank you. It means a lot to him. And to me."

"Yeah, well, don't get too sappy with me."  
"Never. Why don't you…join us at Molly's tonight? After all, without you, there'd be no celebration."

"I'm flattered you want to hang out with me, Burgess, but I drew the short straw tonight. Someone's got to man the desk."

"Right, of course. See you tomorrow, Sarg."

Kim turned again to leave.

"Hey Burgess?" Kim stopped and looked back at Platt. "You really going to meet your man looking like that?"

Kim looked down at her outfit. She was in Jeans and a T-shirt. It wasn't the fanciest thing she owned, but it was more than appropriate for Molly's. Kim didn't know what Platt was referring to.

"What's the matter?" Kim asked.

"You look like hell."

"Maybe because I haven't slept in over twenty-four hours."

"Yeah, well, if I were you," Platt began. "I wouldn't show up to my fiance's celebratory party looking like that. You do still want him to want to marry you, right?"

Kim opened her mouth to speak, but then decided it wasn't worth it. She stormed off to the locker room to look at herself. She stopped in front of a mirror. She looked as good as she felt. Her hair was a mess and she had large bags under her eyes. Even her skin looked tired. She dropped her bag, unzipped it, and dug through until she found her makeup bag. After running a quick brush through her hair, she began applying cover-up, blush, and mascara. When she was finally through, she looked back at herself in the mirror and decided she looked as good as she was going to get.

Kim snuck out of the building. She didn't want to run into Platt again and get her opinion about her new look. Kim hailed a cab and gave the driver Molly's address. When she got to the bar, it was packed. The entire Intelligence department as well as various firefighters and other regulars were all drinking and having a good time. Kim spotted Adam sitting at the bar. Halstead was on one side of him while Kevin was on the other. They were all doing shots. Kim approached them.

"Hey, babe!" Adam shouted above the music and noise when he saw her.

"Hey."

"Somebody get my woman a drink."

Kim could tell that Adam was already drunk. She was glad he was having a good time, but she felt too tired to deal with him being drunk.

The bartender produced a beer for Kim. She thanked him and took the beer, sipping it slowly. Drinking it too fast would probably result in her becoming more tired, not buzzed. Halstead gave up his stool and Kim sat down next to Adam. He talked to her briefly before turning to brag to the rest of the team about how he survived a car smashing through the front of a restaurant. It was amazing how in the course of a day, Adam had gone from thinking his career was over to embellishing the thing that almost made him lose his job.

After sitting next to Adam for about half an hour and finishing her beer, Kim could not stop yawning. She was exhausted and she wasn't having any fun. She had made polite small talk with several people in the bar, but she really wasn't interested in being social. Adam had moved on to a high-top table in the corner and had basically ignored her. All Kim wanted to do was to go home.

Kim slipped off her stool and walked over to where Adam was sitting. As soon as she approached, Adam slipped his arm around her, pulling her onto his lap. She could clearly smell the alcohol on his breath.

"Hey, babe," he said, his words slurred.

He gave her a wet kiss on the cheek.

"I see you're having fun," Kim commented.

"I am. Are you? Are you having fun?"

"Actually I think I'm going to go home.  
"No. Stay. Have another drink."

"I'm really tired, Adam."

"We're celebrating!"

"I know. Why don't you keep on celebrating and I'll be at your place when you're done, ok?"

"In my bed?" He asked, clearly drunk. "Will you be waiting for me in my bed?"  
Kim's cheeks turned pink. Even though everyone in the department knew they were a couple, she was not comfortable with talking about their sex life in front of all of their colleagues.

"I'll just see you later," Kim said. "Don't have too much fun."

"Oh, we're having fun!" Adam shouted, taking yet another shot.

Adam kissed her on the lips sloppily. She wiggled her way out of his grasp before he could try to makeout with her any further.

"Make sure he makes it home," Kim said to Atwater.

"I will."

"Thanks."

As Kim made her way out of the bar, she heard Adam shout after her.

"Make sure you're naked!"

Kim put her head down and raced out.

It was a loud noise that woke Kim up from a deep sleep. She looked at the clock. It was three AM. She had only been sleeping for less than two hours and she was still exhausted from basically working a triple shift. Kim could hear someone talking. She recognized the voice. It was Adam. Kim got out of bed, slipping on a pair of slippers. She walked into the living room. Kevin was helping Adam into the room.

"Hey," she said.

"Oh hey," Kevin replied. "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you."

"Hey, babe!" Adam said loudly, his words more slurred than they were earlier.

"I guess you guys had a good night, huh?" Kim asked.

"Yeah. Sorry," Kevin apologized. "I tried to get him to stay at my place, but he kept talking about wanting to be here with you."

"Naked!" Adam shouted. "You were supposed to be naked!"

"Yeah, that's not going to happen," Kim said. "I got it from here. Thanks Kev."

"No problem. Have a good night."

"You too."

Kevin left, closing the door behind him. Kim went over to Adam. He took a step towards her, trying to kiss her, but she sidestepped him. Instead, she put her arm around him and began helping him to the bedroom.

"I'm not tired," Adam grumbled.

"I know, but it's time to go to bed."

"Why aren't you in bed?" He whined. "I want you in bed. Naked!"

"You're drunk."

"You should be drunk," he countered.

"Let's just get you to bed."

Kim managed to walk him into the bedroom. He fell onto the bed, sprawled out horizontally. She removed his shoes and his pants. Before she could get him to reposition himself, he fell asleep. Sighing, Kim decided to leave him the way he was. She grabbed a pillow off the bed and went into the living room. She settled herself onto the couch, hoping she'd be able to get some sleep. Just as she closed her eyes, she could hear Adam snoring loudly. It was going to be a long night.

After getting only a few restless hours of sleep, Kim couldn't take laying on the couch anymore. Exhausted, she got up and made her way to the kitchen. She started a pot of coffee, knowing Adam would be looking for some when he woke up. She made her way to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked slightly better than she had the day before, but not by much. She still had bags under her eyes. She looked exhausted. Knowing there was nothing she could do about it, Kim grabbed two aspirin and a cup of water. She went into the bedroom to check on Adam. He was still sleeping in exactly the same position he had been in when she left him. After leaving the aspirin and a glass of water on the coffee table in front of Adam, she went back to the kitchen to make pancakes for breakfast. Just as she finished mixing the batter, she heard Adam groaning from the other room.

"Good morning," she said.

"Not so loud," he moaned.

Adam sat up slowly. He saw the aspirin and the glass of water and downed them with one gulp. He stumbled into the kitchen, his eyes barely open.

"How are you feeling?" Kim asked.

"Like hell. What time did I get home?"

"A little after three."

"Ugh," he moaned. "That would explain why I'm so tired."

"Me too," she mumbled.

"I missed you last night," he said.

"I was there."

"You were?"

"Yes, although apparently you don't remember," Kim said, muttering the last part. She knew she shouldn't be, but she was slightly offended that Adam didn't remember that she had made an appearance at the bar.

"Don't take it personally. I can't remember much from last night. I can't remember the last time I had that much to drink."

"Yeah well, I'm glad you had fun and were able to celebrate."

"Too much fun apparently. Are you making something for breakfast?"

"Pancakes. Should be ready soon. The coffee's ready."

Adam joined Kim in the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Did you finish cataloging all those guns last night?" Adam asked.

"Yeah. It took me over an hour after you left."

"That sounds awful."

"It was," Kim agreed.

"Thank goodness I don't have to do that crappy work anymore."

Kim finished pouring the pancake batter into small circles into a frying pan on the stove. She didn't quite know how to reply to Adam's remarks.

"Yeah, no one likes to catalog evidence," she said, turning to face him. Adam was sipping his coffee.

"I just can't imagine doing that day in and day out, you know? Must be horrible. Of course, you already know that, because that's what you do."

"Wait…what?"

"What? I was just saying that it must have sucked for you to have sit there for hours and do all that work."

"But you said, that's what I do," she repeated.

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did," she said. "That's not what I do, Adam. I was helping out. I cataloged those guns because Platt asked me to and she offered me the overtime. But that's not what I do."

"I know. I didn't mean it like that."

"Are you sure? Because it sounded like you meant it."

"I know what you do on the streets, babe. The CPD couldn't run without the little guys on patrol."

"Did you just say the little guys on patrol?" She asked, hoping she misheard him.

"You know what I mean."

"No, I don't," she stated, annoyance in her voice.

"Are you…are you angry with me?" Adam asked.

Kim turned her back to him and flipped the pancakes.

"I just think you guys sit up there in Intelligence and leave all of the…undesirable but necessary jobs to those of us on patrol."

"That's not true."

She whirled around.

"Of course it's true. Who does Voight call when he needs something done that someone on your team doesn't want to do? He calls Roman and me. Every time. So I'm sorry that you think what we do is so boring."

"I didn't say that." Adam took a deep breath. "Look, I know what you do is important. And I know how good you and Roman are at what you do. That's why Voight calls you every time. Intelligence couldn't operate without you guys. You know that. I'm sorry. I'm so hung over, I barely know what I'm saying."

Kim sighed. "No, I'm sorry. I'm really happy that you got your badge back. I really am. I just think…you and everyone else upstairs thinks that what you do is more important than what we do out there on patrol. We chase bad guys, too."

"I know. Come here."

Adam spread out his arms. Kim stepped towards him and he enveloped her in a tight hug.

"Do you remember when we first worked together?" She asked.

"Yeah, out on patrol."

She stepped out of his embrace, nodding. "That's when I realized what I was feeling for you was more than friendship. That was one of my best days on the job, Adam."

"Mine too. Maybe we can request a few more days like that together?"

"Really?" She asked.

"Yeah. It would be fun. Me and you. Taking names and kicking ass together."

She smiled. "I'm sorry I got crazy. That's what happens when I work three shifts and get no sleep."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I took over the whole bed, didn't I?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry," he apologized.

"It's ok."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

Kim began dishing the pancakes onto two plates. "If I didn't get my job back, would we still be together?"

"Of course," she answered. "I love you. With or without a badge. Ok?"

"Ok."

"Would you love me if I weren't a cop?"  
"Of course I would," he told her.

"Well, now that we have that settled, let's eat."

Kim put the two plates of pancakes on the table. Adam sat down and began digging in. Kim watched him while she got herself a glass of orange juice. She couldn't help but think about how their fights had become more frequent. She wished they could just go back to the way things had been early in their relationship.

"Are you going to have some?" Adam asked, pulling Kim from her thoughts. She nodded and joined Adam at the table. Even as she ate her pancakes, she just couldn't stop thinking about their fights. She could only hope that things would get better.

Author's Note: I had a hard time coming up with an ending for this one, but I hope you liked it! As always, thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 - Interrupted**

Knowing she was in the locker room, Adam jogged down the steps from Intelligence with purpose. He had one thing on his mind and one thing only. He wanted to kiss her. He pushed through the locker room doors, a smile spreading across his face the moment he saw her. Adam took Kim by the hand and led her behind the lockers where they wouldn't be seen. Even though their relationship wasn't a secret, they still liked to keep the public displays of affection at work to a minimum.

"Come here," he said. "I got a genius idea."

"Yeah?" Adam kissed her hard and fast. "What?"

"Come over for dinner tonight."

"I can't. I have to see my sister. Her cat is touch and go."

"Again?" Adam asked, not believing the story. "Come on, that cat, he's faking it for sympathy, I'm telling you. Come on over, I'm going to cook for you."

"Since when do you cook?"

"You ever had fetuccine alfredo?"

"Not since high school."

"I've got a secret recipe."

"Ok," she said, letting the word linger in the air.

"Extra cream." He said. Kim laughed, not quite sure if he was joking. "See, I like that smile."

"Yummy."

"You coming over?"

Kim began to back up, knowing she had to get back to work. Adam couldn't help but feel like she was trying to get away from him, even though he knew that she had a job to do. He would have liked a few minutes of privacy with her.

"The cat," she said. "I'll call you."

"Don't call. Just come over."

Adam watched her walk out of sight. He headed back up to Intelligence, determined to have a quiet, romantic evening with Kim even if he had to drive to her sister's house and drag her out with him.

Adam stood at the stove in his apartment, and dipped his finger into the alfredo sauce he was making. He tasted it. It was perfection. He did a little spin, pumped that his meal was turning out better than he planned. He started slicing small tomatoes to throw into the salad he was making. He stopped when he heard a knock at the door. He smiled. After not hearing from Kim for the rest of the afternoon, Adam wasn't sure if she was going to show up or not. He was very glad that she did. After taking off his apron, he went to the door and opened it.

"Hello beautiful lady," he said. He stopped when to his surprise, he saw Olinsky standing there at his door and not Kim. "Hey Al."

"I need a place to crash. Just for a few days."

"Oh…ah…"

"Thanks man."

"Yeah," Adam said, not sure what was going on. He was even more surprised when a teenage girl followed Olinsky into his apartment.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," Adam replied.

"So…ah…where do I sleep?" She asked.

"Ah…well…"

"How about Michelle takes the bedroom? You and me can rough it on the couches," Olinsky suggested.

"Yeah, there's only one couch."

"We'll figure it out," Olsinky said.

"Is this fettuccine alfredo?" Michelle asked.

"Yeah," Adam answered. He didn't know what was happening. One minute he was waiting for Kim and the next minute he had two house guests.

"I love fettuccine alfredo."

"Oh," Adam said. He didn't know how to politely say that it wasn't for them to share.

Adam turned when he heard the sound of high heels coming his way. Kim appeared in the doorway, a bottle of wine in her hand. She looked incredible in a sleeveless black dress with her hair and makeup done. She was drop dead gorgeous.

"Oh," she said, startled as she walked into the apartment.

"Hey baby," Adam welcomed her.

Kim looked around, not sure what was going on.

"Hi," she said.

Adam walked over to Kim and put his arm around her. She eyed him suspiciously, not sure what she had walked into.

"You're hot," Michelle commented.

"Michelle," Olinsky scolded.

"What? She is."

"Let's go get you settled," Olinsky said. "We'll give these two a minute."

Olinsky picked up Michelle's bag and walked off to Adam's bedroom. Michelle reluctantly followed.

"What the hell, Adam?" Kim asked as soon as Olinsky and Michelle were out of earshot. She put the wine she brought on the kitchen counter.

"I'm sorry, they just showed up. Like literally just showed up. Olinsky said they needed a place to stay."

"And you say yes?"

"Well, not exactly. I didn't really say anything. They sorta barged in, but he's my partner, babe. What was I supposed to do?"

"So you'd be totally cool if Roman showed up at my door and asked to crash at my place?" She questioned.

"Well, that's different."

"How is that different?"

"Because he's a guy and you are a very attractive woman."

Adam tried to snake his arm around her waist, but she pushed him off.

"This is not happening," she stated.

"What's not happening?"

"You, me, Olinsky, and…and the mystery teenager having dinner together. It's not happening."  
"Ok. But the mystery teenager is right…you are smoking hot."

Kim rolled her eyes. She would love to say that Adam's flattery wasn't getting him anywhere, but it did feel nice to be complimented. It was rare that she got all dressed up and she was glad he noticed.

"I'm going to go to my sister's," Kim said.

"No. The cat is fine. I want to spend tonight with you."

"Not with them around."

"Then I'll…I'll tell them to get lost," Adam told her.

Kim sighed. "No. Don't. You're right, Adam he's your partner." She took a step closer to him and put her hands on his chiseled chest. She pouted her lips and looked into his eyes. "I just…I got all dressed up and I was hoping tonight would be…you know…special."

"You are killing me, woman."

She smiled devilishly, her bright red lipstick making her that much more sultry. If Adam could have taken her right there in the kitchen, he would have, fettuccine alfredo be damned.

"Let's go to my place," she suggested. "We can leave them here and pick up takeout on the way."

Adam shook his head. "No."  
"You really want to sit down and have dinner with the four of us?"

"No. With you looking like that, I'm taking you out."

"And then?"

"And then…we'll figure something out."

Adam wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a long, deep kiss. Olinsky cleared his throat from behind them. Adam and Kim immediately broke apart like two caught teenagers.

"Sorry if we ruined your night," Olinsky said.

"No sweat," Adam said. "Look, why don't you two get yourselves settled. There's dinner on the stove. Kim and I are going to…ah…go out."

Before anyone could say another word, Adam grabbed Kim's hand and they practically ran out the door.

"Where are we going?" Kim asked once they were in the hallway.

"Anywhere away from them. Besides, I've got an idea."

Adam didn't say a word as they exited the building and got in Adam's car. He drove them into the city. Kim didn't question him. She kind of liked the spontaneous side of Adam.

About twenty minutes later, Adam pulled up in front of a fancy Italian restaurant. He got out of the car, handing the keys to the valet. Before he could make his way to her door to open it for her, Kim climbed out of the car.

"Adam, this place is really nice. They're not going to be able to seat us on a Friday night without a reservation."

"Trust me," he said. He took her hand and they walked in together. The concierge was an attractive twenty-something blonde. She smiled a little too broadly when she saw Adam walk in.

"Welcome to Andino's," she said. "Do you have a reservation?"

"No," Adam answered.

Her smile immediately disappeared. "Oh, I'm sorry, sir, we are completely booked tonight."

"Look, I invited my fiancé to my place tonight for a romantic dinner. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. So, here she is, looking beautiful, and all I want to do is spend some time with her with a good meal and a good drink. Think you can help me out?"

"I'm sorry, sir," the hostess apologized. "We're booked. Perhaps you can try the Olive Garden down the street."

"Come on, Adam, let's go," Kim said, tugging on his hand.

"We're friends of Hank Voight."

The woman's smile immediately returned. "Just give me a minute." She walked away.

"How did you know to use Voight's name?" Kim asked.

"Voight always said he helped out a guy in this place years ago. Said if you mentioned his name, you'd get top-rate service."

"Then why have we never been here before?" She asked.

He shrugged. "I was saving it for a rainy day."

The woman returned. She picked up two menus.

"Right this way," she said.

She led them to a small booth in the back of the restaurant. It was dimly light with two candlesticks glowing in the middle. Kim slid into the booth with Adam right behind her. The woman handed them each a menu. Before they even had a chance to open them, a waiter appeared with a bottle of wine.

"We didn't order any wine yet," Adam told him.

"Gift from the manager," the waiter explained. "He told me to tell you that any friend of Hank Voight's is a friend of ours."

"Thank you," Adam said as the waiter poured them the wine. He left the bottle at their table in an ice bucket. Kim opened the menu and began looking it over.

"So…how long do you think Al and the mystery teenager will be staying with you?" Kim asked.

"I don't know. He didn't say."

"Oh."

"I told you, I can have them make other arrangements."

"No, it's ok. Here's your partner. But any idea who the girl is?"  
Adam shook his head. "No. And it wasn't like Al was very forthcoming with information. But, let's forget about them and just celebrate having this night to ourselves."

"Ok," Kim agreed.

"Cheers," Adam said, picking up his glass.

"Cheers."

"So, can we talk about more important things? Like how hot you are in that dress."

"Well, it was either wear this and see you or throw on sweatpants and go to my sister's."

"I'm very glad you chose me."

"Me too."

The waiter came and took their order. They each ordered fettuccine alfredo. They spent the evening talking about enjoying each other. Adam couldn't take his eyes off of her. He was constantly reminded how lucky he was.

"What?" She said as they were finishing their shared dessert. It was tiramisu.

"What what?"

"Why do you keep staring at me?"

"Because you're beautiful," he said. He leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"You really are hoping you'll get laid tonight, aren't you?"

"I'd be lying if I said no," he said with a smirk.

"You are really something, Adam Ruzek."

"Come on, let's go out of here."

After paying the bill, Adam and Kim left the restaurant. Adam drove down the road a few blocks before pulling into a parking lot.

"What are you doing?" Kim asked. "This is a hotel."

"Exactly."

"Adam, I have a perfectly good apartment where we can…"

He leaned over the center console and kissed her long and hard. When they parted, they were both left wanting more.

"I don't think I can wait that long, can you?" He asked.

They scrambled out of the car. Adam quickly gave his name to the man at the front desk. Kim was surprised to find they had a reservation. She was even more surprised when the man congratulated them. If the fact that they had no luggage was surprising, he didn't show it. Kim had no idea what was going on, but she didn't care. They made their way to the room on the fourth floor. When Adam opened the door, they were greeted with rose petals on the bed and a bottle of wine chilled on the desk.

"What is going on?" She asked.

"I might have called ahead from the restaurant and told them we were celebrating our first wedding anniversary," he said.

Kim laughed. "This is too much."

"Yeah, well, the owner of the hotel is another friend of Voight's."

"I guess Voight's a good man to know."

"Mhmm."

They walked into the room together holding hands. Before the door even closed, Adam had swept Kim off her feet.

Author's Note: I always wish they had done more with the scene of Kim walking in on Olinsky and Michelle crashing at Adam's. Anyway, I hope I did the scene justice!


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 - Home**

Kim raced from her car towards Adam's apartment building. She had her cell phone in her hand. She had dialed Adam's number for the tenth time and he hadn't answered. With worry setting in, she let herself into the building with the key he had given her and went right to his door. She burst in.

"Adam!" She shouted.

Tripping over one of Michelle's bags on the floor, Kim made her way through the apartment. He wasn't in the kitchen, living room, or bathroom. Kim stumbled into the bedroom. Adam was lying horizontal on the bed facing her. He was on his side, his head being held up by his hand. He was in nothing but his boxers.

"Hey babe," he said, trying to sound seductive.

"What is going on?" Kim asked. "You texted me that you had an emergency. Are you ok?"

Kim scanned his body for any wounds. He looked fine.

"I missed you," he said. "Take your clothes off and come here."

"Wait…what?"

"Olinsky took Michelle took a movie. We've got two hours. Now get naked and get in this bed."

"You texted me for a sex emergency?" She asked angrily.

"Yes, now get in this bed."

"No!" Kim exclaimed. "You called me for a booty call!"

Adam sat up and scooted to the end of the bed. He couldn't understand what she was so upset about.

"It's not a booty call."

"Then what would you call it?" She asked, her hands on her hips.

"Ok…fine. Maybe it is a booty call, but it's warranted."

"A booty call is never warranted," she told him.

"Look, this is a real emergency. Us not having sex over the past few weeks is a sex emergency."

"You are unbelievable!" She yelled.

"What?"

"Adam, I was out to lunch with my sister and my niece. I left lunch because I thought there was a real emergency. I thought you were dying! And then I get here and you just want to have sex!"

She turned on her heels and began to walk away. Adam scrambled off the bed and rushed after her. He caught up with her in the living room. Adam took her hand and pulled her back towards him.

"I'm sorry I got you here until false pretenses, but I miss you. I miss us. I miss sex."

"I've been here practically every night for weeks," she said.

"Yeah, you've been here sleeping. No sex. We haven't had sex since our night at the hotel room and that was weeks ago!"

"Maybe we haven't had sex because we have a teenage girl and your partner sleeping in the other room," she reminded him.

"I know and I'm sorry. But even you said we can't just kick them out."

"I know."

"Look, I can't focus at work. I just keep thinking about you. Every time I see you, I picture you naked. I wake up with a hard-on every morning and there's nothing I can do about it. Do you know how frustrating that is?"

"I'm frustrated too, Adam."

"So you do miss sex," he pointed out.

"Yes, I do miss having sex but you don't see me calling you for an emergency sex session!"

"I'm sorry, but having Olinsky and Michelle staying with us is killing me…slowly. I need you, babe." He paused. "I need you."

Kim sighed. By the look on her face, Adam knew he had won.

"You are going to owe me so big," she said.

"I will do whatever you want if you take off your clothes right now."

"I haven't shaved my legs in a week," she warned.

"I don't care."  
"Fine."

Kim pulled her shirt over her head. Adam pounced on her before the shirt even hit the floor. His hands roamed her body, his lips attacking her neck. Kim threw her head back and moaned. She jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist. He backed her against the wall, their tongues and lips dueling.

"Say it," Adam whimpered.

"Say what?" Kim gasped as Adam placed her feet back on the ground and quickly stripped her of her Jeans.

"Say you want this as much as me. Say you want me."

She moaned in pleasure. "I want this."

"And…" he prompted.

"I want you. I want you."

"Thank God."

Adam lowered her to the floor. He knew there was no way they were going to make it back to the bedroom. The floor would have to do. Just as he was about to rip Kim's underwear off, the door opened.

"I can't believe the movie projector broke," Michelle said, walking into the room. Olinsky was right behind her. "Oh!"

Adam scrambled to cover Kim up. They had been caught red-handed. The only thing Adam could think to do was to get Kim's clothes back on before Michelle and Olinsky saw too much.

"Wow, she really is hot," Michelle commented.

"We'll…ah…give you two a minute," Olinsky said, backing out of the room.

"I can't believe you two were going to have sex on the floor. Isn't that how you get bruises?" Michelle asked.

"Come on," Olinsky commanded. He put his hand on her shoulder and led her back into the hallway.

Once the door was closed, Kim and Adam scrambled to their feet. Kim slid her pants back on and Adam handed her her shirt. She put it on quickly.

"I thought you said they were going to the movies," she hissed.

"Guess not," he mumbled.

Adam went into the bedroom to get some clothes. He pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. Kim followed him.

"I am so embarrassed," she whispered.

"I'll talk to Olinsky."

"And Michelle? She just saw us…having sex on the floor!"

"Actually, we hadn't actually gotten to the sex part," he reminded her. "And we weren't doing anything wrong. We're engaged. Engaged people have sex."

"She's an impressionable teenage girl!"

"She's been in juvie. I don't think anything she sees us do is going to be worse than anything else she's seen."

"That is not the point and you know it."

Kim looked in the mirror and straightened her hair. She took a deep breath and turned around.

"Where are you going?"

"Back to lunch with my sister and my niece. You can deal with Olinsky."

She marched out of the room.

"Kim!" Adam shouted, but she didn't turn around. Instead, she hurried out of the apartment.

"Sorry," Kim mumbled to Olinsky and Michelle as she walked by them in the hallway. She made her way out as quickly as she had burst into Adam's apartment. Olinsky and Michelle walked in. Adam was just coming out of his bedroom.

"Can we talk a minute?" Olinsky asked.

"Yeah."

Adam brought Olinsky back into the bedroom. Olinsky closed the door.

"Michelle can't walk in on you two having sex," Olinsky said.

"We didn't actually have sex," Adam grumbled, frustrated.

"Look, you two need to…"

"You know, Kim and I have been more than accommodating," Adam interrupted. "I'm sorry that your wife kicked you out of your garage and that you have nowhere else to go, but this is my place."

"I know that," Olinksy said.

"And I'm sorry that I want to have sex with my fiancé, but not having sex with her is killing me." Adam took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He knew it wasn't Olinsky's fault that he walked in on them about to have sex, but Adam still desperately wanted his life back. "I think we need to set some ground rules."

Olinsky nodded. "What do you have in mind?"

The next day Kim was just pulling on her button-down police uniform over her white T-shirt when the locker room door opened. Adam walked over to her, holding a folder.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey."

"I missed you last night."

"I thought it would be better if I spent the night at my own place," she stated.

"You didn't have to."

"I didn't think I'd be able to face Olinsky."

"Well, about Olinsky…"

"Why haven't we found our own place yet?" She interrupted.

"What?"

"We've looked at dozens of apartment listings. Every single one, you came up with a reason why it wouldn't work. They were always either too expensive or in a bad neighborhood or too far away from the precinct. I'm starting to think that maybe you just don't want to officially move in together."

"That's not true."

"It is. If it weren't true, we would have found a place by now."

"We just haven't found the right place," Adam said.

"And in the meantime, we're stuck living with Olinsky and his teenage daughter! Even she noticed that it was weird we weren't living together. We're engaged, Adam!"

"I know that. I'm the one who proposed to you."

Kim sat down on the bench in front of her locker. "I feel like…"

"Like what?"

"Like we keep going over the same thing again and again."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I feel like I'm always questioning whether this is the right thing. Whether we're in it for the right reasons. Whether you really want this."

"Of course I want this."

"But how many times do we have to essentially have the same argument?" She flopped down on the bench next to them. "I know I want to be with you, Adam. I know I want to live with you and spend every day for the rest of my life with you. I'm just not sure that you feel the same way."

"I do." He sat down, straddling the bench so he could face her. He took her hand. "That's why I told Olinsky that his time was up."

"What? You're just going kick him and Michelle out?"

"Not exactly."

"What are you talking about then?"

"My lease is up in seven weeks. I told Olinsky he could stay, but that he'd have to find other arrangements at the end of the seven weeks because I wasn't going to renew my lease."

"Then where are you going to live?" Kim asked.

"With you." Adam opened up the folder. Inside were pages of apartment listings. "I found a few new listings I thought we could check out together."

"So…"

"So as soon as we find a new place that we're both happy with, I'm moving out of my apartment. Olinsky and Michelle can have it until the lease is up."

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Adam nodded. "I want to come home to you every night and wake up with you every morning. And if we happen to have more sex because of it, I'm not going to complain."

Kim playfully hit him on the arm. "So…we're really doing this? We're moving in together?"

"Yes."

"Ok."

"Ok," he mimicked.

Kim leaned in and kissed him.

"But don't think that just because we move in together, we're going to have more sex."

Kim shut her locker and stood up. She leaned over and kissed Adam on the cheek before leaving the locker room with a smile.

Author's Note: Don't have much to say except thanks for reading and thanks for sticking with me!


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 – Emergency Contact**

(This chapter takes place during episode 9, "Never Forget I Love You")

Kim Burgess was furious. She ordered Roman to pull the patrol car over in front of the hospital. Before he came to a complete stop, she shoved the car door open and leapt out of the car. She didn't even bother to shut the door behind her. Kim raced through the automatic doors of the emergency room at Chicago Med. She stopped at the front desk, but no one was there.

"Hello!" She called.

"Can I help you, officer?" A nurse asked, walking up behind Kim. Kim didn't recognize her.

"An officer was brought in a little while ago," Kim explained. "His name is Adam Ruzek."

"I'll check the computer."

The nurse made her way behind the desk and began typing something on the computer. Kim began tapping the desk impatiently with her fingernails. Roman walked up behind her, presumably after he found somewhere to park the car.

"Is Ruzek ok?" Roman asked.

"I don't know."

"He's being treated by a doctor now," the nurse explained. "He's in room 103. I can have a nurse bring you to him when…"

Kim didn't wait for her to finish. She burst through the swinging doors that led to the back of the emergency room, knowing exactly where to go. The nurse shouted after her, but Roman calmed her down. Kim was on a mission and nobody was going to stop her.

Since she was familiar with the hospital, Kim found room 103 quickly. She was about to burst in the room when she saw Adam sitting on the edge of a bed, shirtless. A young female doctor was working on cleaning a gash on his forehead. Blood was oozing down his face. His ribs looked bruised. As Adam said something, the doctor threw her blonde hair back and laughed. Kim had seen enough. She stormed in.

"Adam!" Kim exclaimed.

"Kim," he replied, a little shocked. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

The doctor looked from Kim to Adam, obviously confused.

"What am I doing here?" Kim echoed. "What am I doing here? Adam, you fell off a second story balcony. You're hurt!"

"It's nothing."

"You're bleeding," Kim pointed out.

"And you are…" the doctor prompted.

"His fiancé," Kim stated through gritted teeth. She crossed her arms so that her engagement ring was clearly visible.

"Oh." The doctor actually looked disappointed.

"I'm fine, babe, really," Adam said.

"He will be fine. Adam has some minor contusions and a broken rib," the doctor explained. "He doesn't even need stitches. The head just bleeds a lot."

"I know that," Kim snapped.

"Right, of course," the doctor said. There was a long, awkward pause. Kim just glared at Adam. "Well, I'll come back in a few minutes to wrap up your ribs."

"Thanks," Adam said.

Kim was not happy with the smile the doctor gave Adam before she left. Kim put her hand on Adam's cheek, taking a closer look at his head wound. The doctor had put a butterfly bandage over the largest scrape.

"Adam, what the hell happened?"

"I fell chasing a suspect," he told her. "No big deal."

Kim took a step back. "No big deal? You jumped off a balcony!"

"I didn't jump. The suspect and I got into a physical fight. We both fell. I'm fine."

"You could have broken your neck! You could be dead!"

"But I'm not. It's just a broken rib and minor cut, babe. I'll be fine." Adam stood up and walked towards her. He was very familiar with the fire in her eyes. She was angry. "I just gotta take it easy for a few weeks."

"You didn't call me!" She shouted.

"What?"

"You jumped off a balcony and you ended up in an emergency room and you didn't call me!"

"I told you I didn't jump," he countered.

"That is not the point!" She yelled.

"Ok, look, I'm sorry. We're in the middle of an investigation. You know what it's like. I didn't even…"

"Think," she interrupted. "You didn't even think to call me. I'm your fiancé and you didn't think to call me when you ended up in the hospital."

"It's not like that, Kim. Things just get crazy when we've got a case. There's a lot going on. I didn't even want to come to the hospital. Antonio is the one who called the ambulance. Voight told me if I didn't get checked out, he wouldn't let me come back to work."

"So that makes it ok."

"Come on, don't be mad," he said approaching her again.

"Don't," she warned, putting her hand out as a warning.

"I don't know why you're so upset."

"Because you could have died!"

"We've been over this. We both have dangerous jobs. Do you know how many times I worry about you and wonder if…"

"This isn't about our dangerous jobs! This is about you not having the common decency to call your fiancé when you end up in the hospital. I only knew you were here because I happened to hear Antonio on the radio!"

"I'm sorry you had to find out that way. I didn't mean to…"

"Am I even listed as your emergency contact?" She wondered. Adam didn't answer. "I'm not, am I?"

"I just never changed the paperwork," Adam replied.

She sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "Of course you didn't."

"Kim, it's not a big deal. I'll just get the paperwork from Platt when I get back and…"

"Don't bother."

Kim turned on her heels and stormed out the door. Adam attempted to follow her, but after a few steps, he stopped from the pain. Taking a deep breath, he knew he was in trouble and he knew he had to do something to make it up to Kim.

Kim was standing in the locker room, pulling off her police uniform. She balled it up and threw it into her locker. Normally she hung it up carefully, but she was just so angry, she didn't care. Between what happened with Adam in the hospital earlier in the day and what happened with Roman shooting an unarmed man, Kim just wanted the day to end. She felt like she was losing her fiancé and her partner both on the same day and she couldn't take it.

Kim quickly slipped out of the white t-shirt she always wore under uniform. She grabbed a clean, black shirt from her locker and pulled it over her head.

"You're so sexy."

Kim whirled around, quickly tugging the shirt down. She was relieved that it was Adam who was standing on the other side of the lockers watching her and not somebody else.

"Flattery is not going to get you anywhere," she said, shoving the rest of her belongings in her locker. "I'm staying at my place tonight." She slammed the door and tried to make her way past Adam. Before she could get by him, he reached out and grabbed her arm.

"We need to talk."

"Not tonight."

"I heard about Roman shooting that unarmed guy."

"I said I don't want to talk!" She shouted.

"I'm sorry. I know it's been a rough day.

"You can say that again."

"Just talk to me." He paused. "Please…"

Kim didn't know why the 'please' got to her. It was like a magic word. Anytime Adam said it, she caved. She was tired of fighting. She sighed. Adam relaxed his grip. Kim sat down on a bench in the middle of the locker room. Adam straddled the bench, facing her.

"He's in trouble, Adam," Kim said.

"You were smart to call Voight."

"He shot an unarmed man," she stated, keeping her voice low. Even though she was sure the rumor mill already started about what happened, she didn't want to add fuel to the fire.

"Voight will figure something out," Adam assured her.

"I just want to go home, have a drink, crawl into bed, and hope that tomorrow is a better day."

"Come to my place."

"No."

"Come on, Kim. We can have a drink together and talk about what happened earlier today at the hospital. Then we can crawl into bed together, possibly naked." He grinned.

"You think this is funny?"  
"Of course not."  
"And do you really think I want to have sex with you tonight?"  
"Look, I'm sorry. I was trying to make you feel better. Just come over tonight."

"So that I can hang out with Olinsky and Michelle?"

"No. I'll tell them to go out to dinner or something. Come over so that we can talk about what happened at the hospital."

"What happened is you don't think I'm important enough to notify when you get injured."

"That's not true and you know it. I filled out the paperwork with Platt today. You are officially my emergency contact person." He smiled when he said, but Kim wasn't smiling.

"Do you know when I changed my emergency contact form, Adam?" He shook his head. "The day after you proposed. I changed it because I thought it was important that if anything should happen to me while on duty, I wanted you to be the first one to know. Not my parents. Not my sister. You. Because you are the most important person in my life. Clearly we have different views about that."

"That's not true. And it's not fair. I just didn't think about it, Kim."

"I know. Just like you didn't think to tell me you were engaged not once, but twice before. Just like you agreed to push the wedding back."

"We've talked about all of this."

"It isn't supposed to be this hard, Adam."

"I think it is," he replied. "Relationships aren't supposed to be easy. If they were, there would be nothing to fight for. I love you."

He slid closer to her and cupped her cheek with his hand.

"I love you, too, but I don't like you right now," she said with a hint of anger still in her voice. She was not about to let him off the hook. She felt like she had been doing that a lot recently.

"That's fair enough. I'm sorry about this morning," he apologized. "I should have called you."

"Thank you for saying that." She paused. "How are you feeling?"

"I have a splitting headache and my ribs have felt better, but I'll be ok."

"I'm sorry I didn't ask earlier."

"It's ok." A tear rolled down Kim's cheek. Adam brushed it away. "Hey, hey, it's ok."

"I just don't know what I can do for Sean."

"Just be there for him. He's in for a long road, but I think he'll make it through. You just gotta keep being his partner."

Kim nodded. "I still don't like you right now, but, I don't want to be alone. Can you come to my place?"

"You don't even have to ask. The answer to that question is always yes."

"Thank you."

Adam leaned forward and planted a kiss on her forehead. He stood up and helped her to her feet. He pulled her in for a long hug. He wrapped his arms around her and she tucked her head under his chin. She squeezed him a little tighter.

"Ow…ribs."

She pulled away. "Sorry."

"Maybe you can…ah…play nurse when we get to your place?" He asked seductively.

"Sure you'd rather not have that hot, blond doctor from the hospital come over?"

"What hot doctor?" He asked with a smile.

"Good answer," Kim said. "I just need a minute."

She finished getting her things out of her locker and then shut it. After slinging her bag over her shoulder, she joined Adam in the middle of the room.

"You ready?" He asked.

"Yeah. You know, she was totally flirting with you."

"Who?" Adam wondered, feigning innocence.

Kim rolled her eyes. "The hot doctor."

"What can I say? I'm irresistible."

"What happened to 'what hot doctor'?" Kim retorted.

"Let's just go," Adam suggested.

He put his arm around her and they walked out together. Kim tried to release the anger so she was holding on to, but it was getting harder every time they had a disagreement.

Author's Note: I don't know why, but this was one of my favorite chapters to work on. I hope you liked it too!


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 – Break Up**

Kim sat on one of the benches in the locker room, staring at her engagement ring. She had finally made the most difficult decision of her life, but that didn't mean she was happy about it. She didn't know how she was going to tell him. She didn't even know if she was doing the right thing. Kim couldn't stop thinking about the fact that Adam had proposed to her in that very room. She had been so happy then. But that happiness had faded in recent memory. Their relationship had become strained and difficult. In the back of her mind, Kim had known for a long time that Adam wasn't ready to get married. Finally, she was ready to take the necessary step and go back to being her own person.

Adam burst into the room and found her sitting in the back.

"Hey," he said, barely even stopping to look at her. "Everyone's going to Molly's. We're going to meet up with some of the fire cats from 51." Kim was barely processing what he was saying as Adam walked away. "Wanna go?"  
"I don't think so," she answered. "No."

Tears were pricking her eyes, but she wasn't going to let them fall. Not until she told him what she needed to tell him.

"No?" Adam questioned.

Kim shook hear head even though he couldn't see her.

"No," she said quietly.

Adam finally reappeared from behind a bank of lockers, as if for the first time noticing that something was wrong with her.

"What's going on?" He asked. "You ok?"

"You were never gonna meet my mom, were you?" Kim countered, suddenly getting strength from her anger. She could tell by the look in his eye that she was 100% correct. "Because you were afraid if you did, the wedding would become real."

"Come on," Adam replied. "Hey, where's this coming from?"

He sat down on the bench opposite her.

"It's fine. I accept it now. You don't want to be on the hook." Kim stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder. She was trying to appear as calm as she possibly could even though her heart was broken and she was practically shaking. Kim slid the engagement ring off her finger. She took Adam's hand and placed the ring in his palm. "I am letting you off."

Kim walked away. She could hear Adam say her name, but she didn't stop. She knew she couldn't stay in that room. She had to get out. She had to be away from him before he was able to convince her that breaking up was a bad idea.

Kim immediately headed for the front doors. She burst outside, letting the cool air surround her. She hailed a cab, thankful that one pulled up almost immediately. She could think of only one place to go. She climbed into the backseat and gave the driver the address. She wiped her tears away as he sped off. Kim couldn't help but stare at her empty finger. She had loved looking down at the ring, reminding herself that she was loved. Without it, she didn't quite know who she was anymore.

Kim took out her phone. She was half expecting to see a message from Adam, but there was nothing. She quickly texted her mom.

'Dinner's cancelled. Stay home.'

A reply message from her mother came just seconds later.

'Everything ok?'

'I'll call you later' Kim typed back. 'Love you mom.'

Kim put her phone away. She wasn't ready to explain everything to her mother. She wasn't even sure she could explain it to herself.

A few minutes later, the taxi stopped in front of a small house. Kim paid the driver, giving him a generous tip. She was thankful he hadn't commented on her tears. Kim walked up the familiar path to the house. She stopped outside the door, composing herself. She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand and took a deep breath. After a moment, she rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, a woman, who looked a lot like Kim only a little older, answered the door. Kim had never been happier to see her sister in her whole life.

"Kim, what are you doing here?" Lauren asked. "I thought you were taking mom to meet Adam's dad tonight."  
"I thought so too."  
"What happened?"  
"I gave Adam his ring back," Kim answered. She wasn't quite ready to use the word 'break-up.'

"What?"  
Kim put up her left hand as if to prove to her sister that what she said was true.

"Ok, I'll get the wine."

Lauren stepped aside so Kim could walk into the house. Kim immediately headed for the sofa in the living room.

"Where's Zoe?" Kim asked.

"She's at a sleepover at a friend's house," Lauren answered from the kitchen. Kim could hear her taking out two wine glasses.

'Did you tell mom about ending the engagement?"  
"No," Kim said in a near whisper. "I didn't want her to freak out."

Lauren appeared in the living room with two glasses and a bottle of chilled white wine. She handed Kim a glass and poured them each a cup.

"So…what happened?" Lauren asked.

Kim wondered how she was going to explain what had happened to her sister when she didn't even quite know herself where things had gone wrong.

"He didn't want to get married," Kim stated.

"Did he say that?"  
"He didn't have to. All the signs were there. I had just been too blind to see them."

"But I thought you two were happy," Lauren said.

"I thought so too. But first he agreed to push the wedding back like it was nothing. And every time I'd try to get him to talk about the wedding, he would always change the subject. I couldn't get him to set a date. He wouldn't even talk to me about the guest list. Then there's the fact that we still haven't found an apartment together. And he would never have put me as his emergency contact if I hadn't bugged him about it. Then he cancels dinner with mom. I mean, how many more signs could there be?"

"You didn't think you should…talk to him?"

"I did!" Kim exclaimed. "I've done nothing but talk to him. He would always just say exactly what I wanted to hear so I believed him. But then he would turn around and keep putting everything off. And I'm tired of it."

"So you're just…done?"  
"Yeah." Kim took a long sip of wine. "The worst part is, I still love him."

"You don't think you could break off the engagement, but still stay together?"

"I don't want to be that girl," Kim said. "The girl whose boyfriend says he wants to get married someday, but just isn't ready yet. How long am I supposed to wait? A year? Two? Five? What if he's never ready? I'll have wasted my time."

"I get it," Lauren agreed. "I'm just sorry to see him go. I liked Adam."

"Yeah, me too."

Kim's phone began to buzz in her pocket. She pulled it out. A picture of Adam flashed on the screen with his name at the top of the screen.

"Speak of the devil," Lauren commented. Kim silenced the buzzing and put the phone back in her pocket. "You're not going to answer it?"  
Kim shook her head. "I can't talk to him right now." She finished the rest of her wine. Her sister immediately poured her another glass. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I mean, most of my stuff is at his place."

"We'll get your stuff."  
"And work. What am I supposed to do about work?"

"What do you mean?"

Kim felt herself losing control. She hadn't stopped to think about the ramifications of breaking up. Tears sprang to her eyes once again.

"How am I supposed to see him every day at work?"  
"You'll figure it out."

"What if I can't? I need to transfer."  
"What? No."  
"I have to. I can't work with him. I can't handle running into him in the locker room or going undercover or…"

"Look," Lauren interrupted. "Right now, it's all new. You're sad and scared and that's completely ok. But don't do anything you're going to regret. He's just a guy. That's not worth losing a job you love. Promise me you won't do anything stupid."

"But…"

"Promise."

"Ok," Kim agreed, although she didn't necessarily mean it. And she didn't agree with what her sister said. Adam wasn't just a guy. He was the man she thought she was going to spend the rest of her life with. He was the man she was still madly in love with.

"Why don't you stay here tonight?" Lauren suggested.

"Thanks."  
"It's going to be ok."

"When?"

"After you've had more wine."

Lauren topped Kim's glass off. Kim sat back against the cushions and closed her eyes. No amount of wine was going to fix her broken heart.

Adam popped the top to his second beer and chugged a good portion of it.

"So, she just gave the ring back to you? Just like that?" Atwater asked.

Atwater was across from Adam. They were at Atwater's house, sitting in his kitchen around his small dining room table. As soon as Kim left him alone in the locker room with her engagement ring in his grasp, Adam knew he wanted to get drunk. There was no other solution to the way he was feeling. He didn't want to go to Molly's though. Molly's was too popular of a spot among cops and firefighters. There would be too many people asking too many questions. Adam just wanted to drink the memory of Kim dumping him away. That was why he decided to show up at Atwater's door with a twelve pack of cheap beer.

"Yup," Adam answered.

"What did she say?"

Adam kept replaying the moment in his mind. How had he so badly screwed things up? How had they gone from happily engaged to broken up? How had he missed the signs?

"She said she was letting me off the hook."

"Wow. I'm sorry, man."

"How did I not see it coming? I mean, I thought she was happy."  
"Well, you did cancel dinner with her mom."  
"My dad got overtime!" Adam exclaimed. "You can't expect him to pass that up."  
Atwater gave him a look. "Look, I know overtime is important, but this was both of your parents meeting for the first time. That was important, too."  
"I know," Adam mumbled, knowing he was wrong.

"But it can't just be about you missing dinner. I mean, you did agree to push the wedding back."

"She's the one who suggested it!"

"Doesn't mean she meant it."

"You think she was testing me?"

Atwater shrugged. "Maybe. And don't forget, having Olinsky and his daughter living with you guys wasn't easy on your relationship. You two never could agree on an apartment together."

"Alright, so I made a lot of mistakes," Adam admitted.

"Look, you know I'm your boy," Atwater reminded him. "But Kim's also my girl. I gotta watch out for both of you."

"What's your point?"

"My point is, don't hate me for asking this next question."

"I know what you're going to ask."

"Oh yeah?"

"Did I really want to marry her," Adam stated.

"And the answer is…"

Adam sighed. It had been the question he had been asking himself every minute since Kim had broken up with him. He knew he loved her. He loved her more than he ever loved Nicole or Wendy. He knew he wasn't afraid of commitment. He knew he wanted to grow old with her. But marriage? His parents' marriage hadn't ended so well. Adam remembered screaming matches in the middle of the night and his dad sleeping on the couch more times than Adam could count. Then, one day, his dad just walked out and that was that. His mom cried for weeks after that, not really because she missed Bob, but because the life she thought she was going to have was over. She was a housewife who thought her marriage could withstand the test of time. She was wrong. Adam didn't want that to happen to himself and Kim. They were happy the way that they were. He didn't need marriage.

"I don't know," Adam finally answered.

"Then why did you ask her to marry you?"  
Adam shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe because it felt like the right thing to do. Maybe because every guy I know from high school is married with a kid on the way already and I just wanted to fit in. Maybe because I was afraid that if I didn't ask her, she'd get restless and end up leaving me and then marrying somebody else."

"Had you two talked about marriage before your proposed?"

"No."

"Look, you and Kim are made for each other. Anyone can see that. But if weren't ready, you shouldn't have asked her to marry you."  
"I know," Adam said, burying his face in his hands. "I screwed it all up."

"So what are you going to do about it?"

Adam lifted his head up. He pulled out his cell phone. After only two beers, he wasn't drunk, but he definitely could feel the alcohol in his body. Perhaps that was why he was feeling bold enough to dial her number. It rang only twice before her voicemail picked up. She purposefully ignored his call. Adam waited for her voicemail message to play.

"Hey, it's me," he said. "Look, I think we should talk. I'm sorry that I cancelled dinner. I just...I don't want to lose you, Kim. Please, please call me. I love you."

Adam hung up the phone. He knew the message wasn't going to be enough to send her running back into his arms, but he hoped it would be enough to at least get her to talk to him.

"That's a good start," Atwater said.

"Yeah, thanks."  
"Another beer?"  
"Hell yes."

As Atwater went to get another cold beer from the refrigerator, Adam stared at his phone, hoping it would ring.

The next morning, Kim trudged into the locker room at the police station. She felt like she had been hit by a ton of bricks. Her head was throbbing, her body slow to respond. She needed coffee and Advil desperately. She couldn't believe that she and her sister had polished off two bottles of wine, especially since Kim knew that she had done most the drinking. Kim opened her locker. She couldn't help but stare at the small, glass bowl she kept on the top shelf. She used it to put her engagement ring in whenever she did something like put lotion on her hands. She picked the glass bowl up and threw it in the nearby garbage can. She didn't want even the slightest reminder of the ring she once wore. As Kim pulled on her police shirt over her clean, white T-shirt, the door to the locker room swung open. Adam walked in. Kim could feel her heart race. She did not want to run into him.

"Hey," Adam said, approaching her slowly.

She didn't meet his eyes. "Hey."

"I called you last night. Twice."

"I know."

"And I texted you like half a dozen times."

"I know," she repeated. She was hoping he would get the hint that she didn't want to talk to him.

"Kim…"  
"I don't want to talk."

"We need to talk," Adam said, basically pleading with him.

"I have nothing left to say to you."

Kim finally looked over at him. He looked as bad as she felt. He obviously had also had a long night.

"Well, I have something to say," Adam insisted. "We don't have to break up. We can work on things. We can…"

"I'm going to be late," she interrupted.

With her head down, Kim charged past him. He reached out for her arm. She gasped when his skin made contact with her.

"Please…" he whispered.

"I…"  
Kim was cut off when Roman burst into the locker room. He eyed Adam and then let his gaze fall on Kim. Adam immediately let go of Kim's arm as if he had been caught doing something illegal.

"You ready?" Roman asked.

"Yeah,' Kim replied.

Without giving Adam so much as a look, Kim raced out of the room. Roman hung back for a moment, waiting for Kim to leave before speaking.

"You really hurt her," Roman said.

"That's none of your business."

"She's a friend. So I'd say it's my business."

"A friend? Are you sure that's all you want?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Roman countered, straightening up just a little.  
"Go to hell, Roman," Adam replied. He stormed off, his headache tripling in size. Adam knew it was going to be a very long day.

Author's Note: I'm so sorry it took so long to post his chapter. I went on vacation and didn't have time to finish this chapter before I left. I hope you liked my take on their break-up. There's still a lot more to come! (And, on a side note, I really wish they would give Kim's sister a name because I keep having to make it up!)


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 – Stuck**

Kim drummed her fingernails on the front desk. Platt was turned around, typing something into a computer. Kim was losing patience. She had been waiting for her assignment for over ten minutes. When Platt asked her if she wanted to work an extra shift, Kim jumped at the chance. She would do anything to get her mind off her breakup with Adam. Even though they had been broken up for almost three weeks, it still felt like a fresh wound.

"Those fingernails of yours aren't going to make this computer go any faster," Platt told her, not even looking at Kim.

"Sorry." Kim paused for about a second. "Can't you just give me a car and put me on patrol?"

"Don't have a partner for you. Sorry."  
"Then what am I doing here?" Kim asked. The question came out harsher and more sarcastic than she meant it to. Platt finally looked away from the computer and gave her a look. Kim knew she had overstepped her bounds.

"You're going down to the evidence locker," Platt said.

"Do you need me to get some piece of evidence for you?"

"Nope. I need you to run it today."  
"What?" Kim exclaimed, wishing she hadn't agreed to come in on her day off. Nobody ever went to the evidence locker on a Saturday, which meant that Kim would be spending her entire time alone, thinking about Adam.

"Downstairs," Platt commanded. She gave Kim a set of keys. "Now."  
"Look, Sarg…" Kim began.

"Now," Platt reiterated.

Kim sighed. There was no use arguing with Platt. Kim slowly made her way down the stairs to the basement of the building where all evidence was kept for ninety days before being shipped to a more permanent location. Kim put the key in the lock and opened the door. The room was musty and smelled like something had died in it. Kim tried to breathe through her mouth. She sat down at a small desk that had a telephone and a computer that looked older than Kim herself on it. She knew that working evidence meant she was supposed to log whoever came to pick up evidence and the tag number for what they took. She was starting to take bets with herself that she would make it to lunch without seeing another living soul.

Sighing again, Kim grabbed a newspaper from the top of the desk. It was from three days earlier, but it at least gave her something to do. Sitting back in the chair, she opened the paper and began to read about foreign affairs.

Hours later, Kim had finished reading the newspaper from cover to cover. She knew all about the latest war on terrorism, she learned about a new cancer drug that looked promising, and she even read every last obituary. Looking around, Kim decided that she couldn't sit still a minute longer. Any time she stopped doing something, Adam crept into her mind.

Kim stood up and began walking through the evidence locker. It wasn't a huge room, but there were interesting things to look at. It was amazing what kinds of things got logged in as evidence. Although the smell got worse as she got further into the room, Kim looked from side to side to see what she could see. Along with the many guns that were confiscated fairly regularly, there were also plenty of personal effects like jewelry, clothing, and even a prosthetic arm. As Kim rounded the corner to look at the evidence that would soon be packed up and shipped out, she heard someone come into the room. She began to make her way back to the entrance. It would be nice to talk to another living being.

"Hello!" The male voice rang out. Kim stopped dead in her tracks. She would recognize that voice anywhere. It was Adam. She immediately wondered what her hair and makeup looked like, but then realized that that was stupid. They had broken up. She didn't need to impress him. He called out again.

Kim took a deep breath. She had to be professional. After all, she had made the decision to stay at district 21 despite their breakup. She wasn't going to let her failed relationship with Adam stop her from doing her job. Just as she rounded the corner, she felt his solid body against hers. They ran into each other.

"Woah," Adam said, gripping her arm so she wouldn't lose her balance. "Kim?"  
He let her go and Kim took a step back. She could smell his cologne almost as if it were taunting her. She loved that smell.

"What do you need?"  
"What are you doing down here in evidence? On a Saturday?" Adam wondered.

"I picked up a shift. What do you need?"  
Kim finally met his eyes. She could tell he was trying to figure out what to do or say next.

"Ah…cell phone that was taken off a drug dealer last week. We think he might be connected to a case we're working on."  
"Do you have the tag number?"  
"I have the guy's last name."

"And you didn't think to look up the number in the computer to make my life a little easier?" She asked, slightly annoyed. It was easier to be annoyed with him than to think about how much she missed him.  
"I didn't know it was going to be you down here," he replied. "Besides, you can do the same search."

"And you thought your time was more precious than whatever poor officer got stuck down here, huh?"  
Kim didn't know why she was being difficult. She had gone to the evidence locker at least a dozen times in the past without looking up the tag number.

"I don't want to argue," Adam said.

Kim averted her eyes away from him. She stepped past him and towards the computer.

"What's the name?"  
"Travis. Eric Travis."  
Kim typed the name into the computer. She found the entry for the cell phone Adam was referring to and jotted down the tag number on a small scrap piece of paper. She walked off in search of the phone without a word. Adam followed her. They had to walk pretty far in to get to where they needed to be. Kim noticed that Adam was keeping his distance. She wasn't sure if she was happy or sad about that. Kim finally stopped in front of one of the shelves.

"It's on the top," she said. She reached up for a bin, but wasn't tall enough. She looked around for a step stool or ladder of some kind.

"Here, I got it," Adam said. He took a step towards her. Never taking his eyes off of hers, he reached up and grabbed the bin. He brought it down slowly, staring deeply into his eyes. Kim had missed the way he looked at her. She always felt like he could see straight to her soul with one look. She was about to open her mouth to say something when they both heard a bang.

"What was that?" Kim asked.

"I have no idea."

"It sounded like…the door."  
They both headed for the door. It was shut. Kim reached for the handle. She turned it, but nothing happened.

"What's going on?" Adam questioned. He put the bin with the cell phone in it on the desk.

"It's locked," Kim told him.

Adam tried the handle himself. He couldn't get it to budge. Kim grabbed the set of keys Platt had given her. She tried each one, but none fit in the key hole.

"You don't have a key?" Adam wondered.

"I didn't know it was a different key on the inside."

"Well there's got to be one here somewhere."

Adam and Kim began scouring the desk, opening every drawer and checking in every nook and cranny. Aside from some old food wrappers and regular office supplies, they found no key.

"Did you do this?" Kim asked.

"What?"  
"Did you lock us in here so that we can talk or whatever?"  
"No!" Adam exclaimed.

"Adam, I swear, if you…"

"I didn't set this up!" He explained.

Kim grabbed the phone from the desk. She dialed the number to reach Platt. It only rang once.

"Sergeant Platt," Platt answered.

"Yeah, Sarg, it's Burgess. I don't know what happened, but we are locked in the evidence locker."  
"We?"  
"Yeah, me and…" Kim paused, hearing Platt snicker. "Ruzek."

"Might take me a while to get someone down there, Burgess. We're spread pretty thin."

"Just send someone down with the key. It'll take thirty seconds."  
"We don't have a spare," Platt stated.

"What? How do we not have a spare? Sarg…"

"Looks like I'll have to call a locksmith. This will give you and boy wonder the chance to talk. Maybe smooth things over."  
"Sarg…" Kim began.

The line went dead. Kim slammed the phone down.

"What did she say?" Adam asked.

"She did this."  
"What?"  
"Platt locked us in here."  
"Did she say that?"  
"No," Kim answered. "But I could tell by the sound of her voice. She wants us to talk."

"Any plan on how to get us out of here?"

"I'm sure she'll get us out when she's good and ready."  
"Ok…so…"

"So…" Kim trailed off.

"Let's talk."

"I told you I don't want to talk."

"It's been almost three weeks and we've barely said two words to each other."

"It's easier that way."

"Kim…" Adam prompted.

"Fine, you want to talk. Let's talk. Why did you propose to me?" Kim asked, nearly shouting.

"What?"

"Why did you ask me to marry you? If it's not what you wanted, why did you ask me?"

"Because I thought it was what I wanted!" He exclaimed.

"But you don't want it anymore," Kim said, feeling defeated.

"That's not what I meant. I want to marry you, Kim. I do."

"You have a funny way of showing it."

"I'm just not...ready."

"Then we're back to the same question. Why did you ask me?"

"I thought I was ready." He paused. "I told you, I thought it's what you wanted."

"What I wanted? I do want to marry you, Adam, but don't put this on me. I never once told you I was waiting for a proposal. We never even talked about it!"

"Then why did you say yes?" He asked.

"Because I was sure. I was sure I wanted to marry you. I wanted to start a life with you. I wanted to spend my life with you. I was sure!"  
"But you're not anymore?"

"After everything we've been through? No. How can I want to spend my life with someone who doesn't want to spend their life with me?"

"That's not fair," he replied. "I never said I didn't want to spend my life with you."

"No. You just refused to talk about anything that had to do with the wedding. You didn't want to meet my mother. You agreed to push the wedding back a year."

"I only agreed to push it back because you suggested it."

"I may have suggested it, but it took you all of two seconds to agree."

"Maybe if I knew I was taking a test…"

"That's the point! You should have passed the test, Adam. Sean said…"

"Roman?" Adam scoffed. "Roman's the one who suggested you ask me to push the wedding?"

"He merely pointed out that I should gauge your reaction."

"I'm sure that's all he did."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Roman's had a thing for you since the beginning. He's been sabotaging this relationship since the beginning," Adam stated.

"That's not fair."  
"You don't notice the way he looks at you."

"We're partners," she claimed.

"Is that all?"

She threw her hands up in the air in frustration.

"I never cheated on you with Roman!" Kim exclaimed. "I never cheated on you with anyone!"  
"I never said you did. But that guy who is supposed to be your friend has been putting thoughts in your head and…"

"This is not about Roman! This is about you not wanting to really be married, Adam! It's like you like the idea of a wedding. You like the excitement of the proposal and parties, but it's the marriage that you're not ready for."

"Fine. You're right. I'm not ready. But that doesn't mean I don't want to be with you. That doesn't mean I don't love you."

Kim felt tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

"I can't wait for you," she said quietly. "I can't wait for you to be ready. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, I'm sorry too."

"Look, I don't want to do this every time we find ourselves together. I don't want to keep hashing out the same things. We tried. It didn't work. But we have to be able to work together. I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but…"

"But we have to try."

"We have to try," she mimicked.

"Ok."  
"Ok."

"I want you to be happy," Adam said.

"I want the same for you."  
"At least we can agree on that."

"Yeah," she agreed.

A thick silence filled the air.

"Think Platt will agree to let us out of here?"  
Just as Kim was about to respond, the door opened. Voight and Platt stood on the other side.

"Ruzek," Voight said. "Did you get the phone?"

"Yes, sir," Adam replied, picking up the bin from where he had left it on the desk.

"We need it upstairs. ASAP."

"Yes sir."

With the cell phone in hand, Adam bolted out of the room.

"I'm sorry, sir. The door was locked and…" Kim began to tell him.

"You don't have to explain." Voight locked eyes with Platt.

"I was just trying to help," Platt said.

"I'm sure you were, Trudy. But next time, don't do it while one of my guys is on the clock."

Voight walked away.

"So…how did it go?" Platt asked once she and Kim were alone.

"I know you're trying to help, Sarg, but it's over. It's hard enough seeing him here every day without being locked in a room with him. I decided to stay. Please don't make me regret that decision."  
Kim took a seat at the desk. She picked up the newspaper she had already read and opened. Platt took the hint and left. It wasn't until she was alone did Kim let a tear roll down her cheek.

Author's Note: I really liked this chapter. Maybe because it's the kind of conversation I really would have liked to have seen on the show. I know some of you are looking for "Adam's feelings" on the whole break-up. I promise – the next chapter will be a little more Adam-centric. Thanks for reading and for sticking with me!


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 – Dream**

(Note: This chapter takes place soon after Roman gets shot)

Adam lightly ran his fingertips over Kim's skin. He was barely touching her, but he could feel her softness. He traced every curve and angle as he made his way down her body. She was beautiful and flawless, her skin almost having a glow to it. But just touching her wasn't enough. It was never enough. Adam pressed a kiss in between her naked shoulder blades. She sighed, turning her head towards him.

"You're not playing fair," she said.

"Oh no?"  
"You said hands only."

"My lips just couldn't resist," Adam replied.

Kim smiled. He loved her smile. It made her eyes brighten and her whole face lit up. They were in bed together, both of them only in underwear. It was one of those rare Saturdays where neither of them had to work and they had nowhere to be. They woke up in each other's arms, kissing lightly and snuggling. After breakfast in bed, it was Adam who suggested that he give Kim a massage. She had the sheet over her legs, but her back was completely open to him. Adam had straddled her hips and kneaded his hands into her back muscles, releasing any tension she had. Judging by her moans, she was thoroughly enjoying his work.

Adam dragged his hand down her back and then teased the back of her upper thighs under the sheet. She giggled. Adam couldn't remember a more sensual moment. He loved everything about her.

"That's also cheating," she reminded him. "You said nothing below the belt."

"Well, then somebody better call the police because I plan on breaking the rules a lot."  
"Good thing I am the police."  
Even though she was mostly trapped by his body, Kim managed to roll over and turn onto her back. She sat up, looping her arm around Adam's neck. She pulled him down towards her and they kissed, taking their time to explore each other's mouths. It was Adam who moaned when Kim's hand slipped inside his boxers.

"Now who's breaking the rules?" He asked, panting.

"Shut up," she murmured, kissing him once more.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I…"

A ringing filled the air. Adam tried to ignore it, concentrating completely on Kim, but suddenly it was as if he couldn't feel her anymore. Even though she was below him on the bed, it didn't seem like she was there at all. Adam tried to say her name out loud, but no sound came out. The ringing grew louder. Adam finally turned his head. His cell phone was going off on his nightstand. Adam looked back down at Kim to apologize for the interruption, but she was gone.

"What the…" he began.

That's when Adam opened his eyes. He was alone in his bed, the sheets tangled all around him as if he had been tossing and turning. It was dark in his bedroom. Kim wasn't there. She hadn't been there. At least not in a long time. He had been dreaming. The sound of his phone ringing had woken him up. Adam looked at the clock. It was 7:44 in the morning. His cell phone continued to ring. Adam reached for it.

"Ruzek," he grumbled, angry that his dream had been interrupted by whoever was calling him.

"I thought we were meeting for breakfast," a man's voice said on the other end.

Adam felt like his brain was spinning. He was still busy thinking about Kim. The man's words weren't really registering.

"What?"

"Are you drunk?" The man asked. "It's not even eight in the morning."

"Who is this?" Ruzek asked.

"It's your father."

"Dad?"

"It's the last Tuesday of the month," Bob told him. "Did you forget?"

"Yeah. No. I overslept. Sorry."

"You ok, son?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in twenty minutes."  
Adam hung up the phone and dropped it onto the mattress next to him. He sat up, running his hand over his face. The dream had seemed so real. He could still feel Kim's skin, he could taste her kisses, he could still hear her sigh. But Adam knew it wasn't real. It was just another dream. Since they had broken up, he hadn't stopped dreaming about her. It was becoming incredibly frustrating.

Adam swung his legs over the side of the bed. He was going to need a cold shower before he met his dad.

Exactly nineteen minutes later, Adam strolled into the small diner where he and his dad always met for breakfast on the last Tuesday o the month. The food was generally terrible, but the coffee was hot and you could always get a table. Adam spotted his dad sitting at a booth in the back. Adam slid in across from him.

"Sorry I'm late," Adam mumbled. He was happy to see that his dad had already ordered him a coffee. He was going to need a lot of coffee if he wanted to really wake up and stop thinking about Kim.

"No problem. Everything ok?" Bob asked.

"Yeah. I told you, I just overslept."

"So…how's work?"  
"Been good. Busy."

"How's Voight?" Bob questioned, sipping his coffee.

"Let's not do this," Adam said.

"Ok, fine. We won't talk about work. How's that girlfriend of yours? Sorry…fiancé."

Adam looked down at his coffee. "We're not getting married."  
"You called off the wedding?"

"We broke up," Adam clarified.

"Sorry to hear that. I liked her. But in my opinion, you dodged a bullet, son."

"You just said you liked her."

"It's not about her. Kim was great. It's about marriage. Committing yourself to one woman for the rest of your life isn't worth it. Besides, you'll find another woman soon. Just walk into a bar and they'll come flocking to you. After all, you inherited my good looks."

"I'm not interested in sleeping around," Adam mumbled.

"Why not? You've spent way too much time being engaged. You should be hooking up with as many women as you can while you still have a full head of hair. Forget about Kim."

"I can't forget about her!" Adam nearly shouted. "She was my fiancé. She wasn't just some one night stand."

"Fine. I get it. You loved her. But love isn't everything. And marriage…nothing good comes out of marriage."

Adam shook his head. "Just because your marriage didn't work out, doesn't mean mine won't."

"Come on, Adam. Marriage is nothing but disappointment, nagging, and wishing you were somewhere else."

"See, that's the problem, dad."  
"What are you talking about?"

"The entire time Kim and I were engaged, I had you in my head telling me about how horrible marriage is. That's all you've always said since the minute you and mom divorced. You did the same thing when I was with Wendy."

"Wendy was never right for you."  
"That's not the point," Adam replied, getting increasingly frustrated. "I love Kim. I wanted to marry her. And if it weren't for you and your stupid ideas about marriage, she and I would still be together." Adam knew as soon as he said it that he didn't mean it. He sighed. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok, I get it. Things went sideways and you need someone to blame."

"I know it's not your fault. The breakup just came out of left field. I thought we were fine."

"So what happened?" Bob asked.

"She got tired of me dragging my feet about the wedding. And I can't blame her. I was dragging my feet. She wanted you to meet her mom."

"And you didn't want that?"

"I told her you had to work overtime. I just wasn't ready for it all to be real."

"Then maybe you shouldn't have asked her to marry you," Bob pointed out.

Adam nodded. "I wasn't dragging my feet because I didn't want to be with her. I don't know what my problem was. All I know is I screwed up and now I'm paying the price."

"Have you told her all this?"

"Not exactly. But we're finally in an ok place right now and I don't want to mess that up. Besides, she's been through a lot recently with the trial of that kid and everything. And she's…sort of seeing someone else."

"I'm sorry, son."

"Thanks dad."

"But if you still love her, you need to talk to her. Then at least you'll know you did everything you could," Bob suggested.

Adam's phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw a text from Olinsky. He was needed in Intelligence immediately.

"I gotta go," Adam said. "Duty calls." Adam stood up. He threw down a ten dollar bill on the table. Even though he didn't order anything, he figured he would pay for his dad's breakfast. "See you next month."

Adam began to walk away.

"Hey Adam," Bob called.

"Yeah?" He said, turning back around.

"I'm sorry if I ruined your idea of marriage. Your mother and I may not have made it, but we had some good years. And I wouldn't have traded it for anything because it gave me you."

"Thanks dad."

Adam left the diner, wondering if he should follow his dad's advice.

Kim sat up straight in bed. She didn't know what woke her, but all of a sudden she felt like she couldn't breathe. She needed air. Kim looked over at the person beside her in the bed. It was Roman. Although she had spent the last week since she had been shot with him, waking up next to him still seemed strange.

Kim scrambled out of bed, being careful not to wake him. She made her way to the bathroom. She shut the door and turned on the light. After her eyes had adjusted to the brightness, she put the toilet seat and lid down and sat down on top of it. She put her head between her knees, trying to calm down. She didn't know why she was panicking except that staying at Sean's was still so new. Since the shooting, everything felt different.

Kim looked around the bathroom, noticing a dirty towel on the floor and a stack of men's magazines next to the toilet. It was a very typical male bathroom that probably hadn't been cleaned in quite some time. His whole apartment was like that. Not dirty, but not up to Kim's standard of clean. Kim wasn't used to that. Although Adam hadn't been the best housekeeper, he did what he could for Kim to feel comfortable. Kim wasn't comfortable at Sean's.

She tried not to think about it. She knew Roman cared for her. She knew he wanted things to work out, but she wasn't sure what she wanted. Things had happened so fast after she broke up with Adam. And then after just one night together, Sean had gotten shot and Kim stayed by his side. She hadn't exactly meant to end up with Sean, but that's what happened. She just had to get used to it, that's what she kept telling herself. She would eventually become more comfortable at Sean's house. Then again, she knew she could invite him to her place, but she wasn't ready for that. She still thought of her place as her and Adam's place. She wasn't ready to replace those memories even though they were no longer together.

Kim couldn't help but wonder what Adam was doing. She realized it was the last Tuesday of the month, which meant he was at breakfast with his dad. She liked that they had that tradition.

Splashing water on her face, Kim looked at herself in the mirror. She pulled up her T-shirt sleeve a little to reveal the scar she still had from when she had been shot. It had faded with time, but she knew she would always have the scar. Adam knew she was insecure about it. He always made sure she felt beautiful. Sometimes he would kiss the scar as if it were the most precious thing in the world. Kim knew it was silly, but it made her feel special.

"Kim?" Roman's groggy voice came from the bedroom. "You ok?"

"Yeah. I'll be right there."  
Kim rolled her sleeve back down. She locked eyes with herself in the mirror, wondering if she was doing the right thing. Was being with Roman fair when her thoughts were consumed by Adam most of the time? Was leaving Roman so soon after he been wounded even an option? Could she will herself to get over Adam?

"Kim?" Roman called out again.

Kim sighed. She turned away from the mirror and headed back to the bedroom. Just as she was about to climb into bed, the text message alert on her cell phone went off. Kim grabbed it from the bureau and read the message. She was thankful for the distraction.

"I have to go in," Kim said.

"I thought you had the day off."  
"Yeah, I thought so too, but Voight's calling me in."

"Voight's calling you? What's going on?"

"I don't know, but I have to go."

"I can go with you," Sean said. "See if they need any help."

"You're not cleared for duty. You know that. I'm sorry. I have to go. I'll…I'll call you later."

"Yeah, ok."

Kim knew she should probably kiss him goodbye, but she didn't. Instead she gathered her clothes and ran out of his apartment as soon as she could.

Adam pulled into the parking lot behind the precinct. As he turned his car off, he spotted Kim walking into the building. Adam knew he could sit in his car for a few more minutes and let her go in without her knowing he was there. But after the conversation he had with his dad, he wanted to talk to her. Adam got out of the car and jogged to catch up to her.

"Kim, hey," he said.

"Hey," she replied, turning around. She was happy to see him, probably more than she should be.

"How are you doing?" He asked.

"Good. Happy to be back to work."  
"Yeah, it's good having you back. How's Roman?"

"He's doing better. Thanks for asking." They shared a long, awkward pause. "Look, Adam…I'm sorry you had to find out about me and Roman in the court room. I should have told you."

"It's ok," Adam replied. When Kim and Sean's romance had been outed during the trial, Adam was upset, but not shocked. The truth was, he was insanely jealous, but all he really cared about was making sure Kim was ok. He knew the trial hadn't been easy for her.

"No. It's not ok. I didn't mean to move on so fast. It just sort of…happened. And I know you think Sean had something to do with us breaking up, but I swear nothing happened with him when we were together. He was nothing but a partner and a friend. And…"

"It's ok," Adam said. "I don't blame him. It was me. I wasn't ready to get married and I'm sorry that I wasn't straight with you."

"It wasn't just you," Kim admitted. "I should have communicated with you how I was feeling. Instead I just let it bottle up and…I'm sorry."

"Me too. I meant what I said before the trial, Kim. I still care about you."

"I care about you, too."

"Maybe we can grab a drink and talk," Adam suggested.

"I…"

"Hey, Voight's going to have our asses if we don't get up there," Halstead said as he walked by.

"We better go," Kim said.

She followed Halstead inside, leaving Adam alone. He might not have told her he was still in love with her, but at least she knew he was still there. He just hoped that would be enough.

Author's Note: So, I was a little unsure about this chapter, but I think it came together ok. I have to admit – I just recently watched the last seven episodes of season 3. I kept putting it off because I did not want to see Kim and Sean together. But, I forced myself to watch them so that I could finish this story and be ready for season 4 (which will hopefully include some Burzek). There's only 2 chapters left!


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 – After**

Kim pulled the car up to the curb and put it in park. She stared straight ahead, not looking over at Sean beside her.

"We'll keep in touch," Sean said.

"Yeah, of course," Kim responded.

Kim wondered if that were true. Sean had been such an important in her life ever since they became partners, but since they had slept together and then Sean had gotten shot and Kim had gone through the trial, things were different. Kim was ready to put all that behind her and start fresh.

"I do love you," he stated.  
Kim looked over at him. She just couldn't bring herself to say it back. She loved him as a friend, but she wasn't in love with him. Somehow she had a feeling he already knew that.

"I know," she said, unable to say anything else. "Good luck with everything in California."

"Thanks. You keep chasing those bad guys."  
"I will."

Sean leaned over the console and kissed Kim on the cheek. He got out of the car, grabbed his bag from the backseat, and walked off towards the airport. He stopped before he got to the automatic doors, turned back, and waved at Kim. She smiled and waved back at him. A few seconds later, he was gone. Kim sat in her car for a moment, thinking about what had just happened. Sean was gone, off to live his life in California, and Kim knew it was the best thing for both of them. She also knew that if he had stayed, things wouldn't have worked out. It was better for them to part as friends.

Kim took out her cell phone and speed dialed her sister's number.

"Hey, sis," Lauren answered.

"Hey."

"You ok?"  
Kim sighed. "What are you doing right now?"

"I just dropped Zoe off at dance class."

"Want to come over?" Kim asked.

"I'll bring the wine."

Kim loved that her sister knew her so well. She hung up the phone, took a deep breath, and drove off.

About an hour later, Kim had changed into comfortable, fuzzy pajamas and was curled up on one side of her couch with her sister sitting on the other. They were both halfway through a glass of wine each.

"Are you ok?" Lauren asked.

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

"I think so. I mean, my life's been crazy these past few months, but I'm as ok as anybody can be."

"Everything with the trial is over, right?" Lauren clarified.  
"Yeah."

"And Sean's…gone? For good?"

"Yeah," Kim answered. "I don't think he'll be coming back."

"How do you feel about that?"

Kim sighed. "Sean is a nice guy and I know he loved me, but…"

"But you didn't love him," Lauren finished. "Which is why you didn't go to California with him."

Kim nodded. She hated that her sister had figured out in just a few seconds what Kim had agonized over for so long. The entire time she was with Sean she knew she hadn't been fair to him. But hearing her sister say it out loud made Kim feel like a terrible person. She should never have entered into a relationship with her partner in the first place. Especially not when she wasn't over Adam.

"Why did he have to propose?" Kim wondered out loud.

"Wait. Sean proposed?"

"No. Not Sean. Adam."

"Ooooh. So you didn't go to California just because you weren't in love with Sean. You didn't go to California because you're still in love with Adam."

Kim nodded and took a long sip of wine.

"Why did he have to propose?" Kim asked. "I mean, we would have been fine if we just kept things the way they were. It's like the proposal ruined everything."  
"Aren't you the one who said that you were glad you found out now that he didn't want to be married rather than waste your time?"  
"Well yeah, but that doesn't mean that we couldn't have been happy for another six months or a year or two years. Maybe then he would have been ready to get married." Kim paused. "I sound like one of those girls I would have hated in high school. Waiting around for a man."  
Lauren put a reassuring hand on Kim's arm. "No. You sound like a woman in love. And I get it, I do. The heart wants what the heart wants. You can't rationalize it."

"I should never have slept with Sean."

"He was your rebound guy. We've all had them."  
"Yeah, but he was also my partner. And a good friend. And our secret relationship almost messed up that entire trial," Kim remembered.

"But it didn't because you did the right thing. You won. Justice was served. You would have reacted the same way whether you and Sean were in a relationship or not."

"Yeah, well now I've lost a really good friend."

"Some people enter our lives for a reason and then they're gone and we just have to learn what we can from them and be grateful that they were there at all."

"When did you get to be so smart?"  
"I'm the older sister, remember?" Lauren said. Kim laughed. "Now, back to Adam..."

"Do we have to talk about him?"

"Yes," Lauren answered. "What are you going to do about your feelings for him?"

"I don't know what to do. Despite everything that happened between us, I still love him."

"So tell him."

"I can't," Kim replied quickly.

"Why not?"  
"Because I don't know if I'm ready to be with him again. And even worse, I don't know what I would do if he said he didn't want to get back together."

"The man is crazy about you," Lauren stated. "Trust me, he will want to get back together."

"I think I just need time for me. You know, Adam and I are finally in this good place where we can not only tolerate seeing each other at work, but we're happy to see each other. I don't want to ruin that now. And maybe it's time I try being single for a while. Maybe it's time I focus on me and my career. It wasn't so long ago I had sworn off men temporarily so that I could get through the police academy without distraction. Maybe I need to go back to that."

"That sounds very mature of you."

There was a long pause. "I hear a but coming," Kim said.

"But…don't forget that while you're off finding yourself and becoming an even better cop than the amazing police officer you are, Adam is single and hot."  
"What does that mean?"

"That means that I wouldn't be surprised if one day Adam finds himself a girlfriend and you're left wondering why you didn't tell him how he felt."  
Kim thought about it. The idea of Adam being with another woman made her insanely jealous. She could only imagine how he must have felt when he found out she and Roman were an item. But she meant what she said. She wasn't ready to run back into Adam's arms.

"I still think I need time," Kim decided.

"Well, you know I'm here for you. With a fully stocked wine fridge."

Kim laughed. "Thanks for being an amazing big sister."

"Want to watch a chick flick?" Lauren asked.

"Definitely."

Two Months Later

Kim walked into Molly's and immediately looked around. She spotted a few firefighters at the bar. They all nodded hello to her. She reciprocated. Scanning the small building, Kim finally spotted who she was looking for. She walked to the back of the room.

"Hey," Erin said.

"Hey. Sorry I'm a little late."  
"We're cops. I would have been surprised if you were on time."

Kim shrugged off her coat and draped it on the empty stool next to her. She sat across from Erin.

"Thanks for the invite."

"I figured it's about time us girls got together. I got you a beer."

"Thanks."

Kim picked up the bottle.

"Cheers," Erin said, knocking her beer against Kim's.

"Cheers."

They both took a drink.

"So…how are you doing?" Erin asked.

"I'm good."

"Yeah? No regrets over not going to California with Roman."

Kim shook her head. "I probably should be regretting it, but I'm not."

"It wasn't meant to be," Erin commented.

"You can say that again."

"Have you heard from Roman?"

"He texted me to say he landed safely, but that's it," Kim explained. "I think it's for the best. He's starting a new life out there and I need to get on with my life."

"That's very mature of you."

"Yeah, well, I've had a lot of time alone to figure it all out in my head."  
Kim noticed Adam walking into the building. A pretty brunette followed him. They walked together to the bar. Adam pulled out a stool for the woman. She thanked him and sat. Kim couldn't help but watch them. She had never seen the woman before, but whoever she was, she seemed very comfortable with Adam.

"Julia Spark," Erin said.

Kim turned her attention back to Erin.

"What?"

"The woman Adam's with? Her name is Julia Spark."

"Who is she?" Kim asked, trying to pretend she didn't care.

"Actually she's an old high school friend of Dawson's sister, Gabby. I guess Julia just moved back to Chicago. Gabby brought her around the bar a few nights ago to meet everyone and she and Adam…"

"Hit it off," Kim finished.

"I guess you could say that."

"Are they serious?"

Erin shrugged. "It's only the second time I've seen them together."  
"Well…I just hope he's happy."

"It's ok to be jealous."

Kim was about to deny her jealousy, but knew it was useless. Erin was very good at reading people.

"I do want him to be happy," Kim stated as if trying to convince herself of that fact.

"You just want him to be happy with you," Erin said.  
"I don't know what I want."  
"Well, you better figure it out soon."  
Kim watched as Julia put her hand on Adam's arm. They were both laughing about something. Julia leaned in and kissed Adam on the cheek. Jealousy coursed through Kim's veins. She chugged her beer.

Hours later, Kim took a deep breath before she worked up enough courage to knock on Adam's door. She waited, knowing it was late and that Adam could be sleeping. Or worse, someone else could be sleeping with him. Kim didn't want to think about that. After spending two months thinking about what went wrong with Adam the first time and how she had made a mistake getting involved romantically with Roman, she was finally ready to tell Adam how she felt. The door opened. Adam was standing in nothing but a pair of sweatpants, his hair ruffled as if he had been sleeping. Kim's mouth went dry.

"Kim, what are you doing here?" Adam asked, not exactly inviting her in. He kept the door mostly closed so Kim couldn't see into the apartment. Her heart fell. There could be only one reason why he didn't want to let her into his apartment. He must have had some other woman there.

"She's here, isn't she?" Kim replied.

"Who?"  
"That woman from the bar. Gabby Dawson's friend. Julia."

"Kim…"  
"Is she here?" Kim demanded. Adam didn't respond. "Are you sleeping with her?"  
"I'm not going to answer that. What do you want, Kim?"

"I…I…" Kim stuttered, not knowing what to say or how to say it.

"Go home, Kim," Adam said.

"I hated seeing you with her at the bar," Kim finally blurted out. "It made me insanely jealous. It pained me to see you make her laugh and to see you flirting with her and to see how she kissed you on the cheek. I hated it. And I know, I shouldn't be saying anything. I know I was with Roman and that I'm basically being a hypocrite, but…" she trailed off.

"But what?"

"But I love you. I never stopped loving you."

She let the words hang in the air. She didn't know what else to say. She waited to hear Adam's response. The longer he was silent, the worse she began to feel.

"You know, months ago, I would have begged to hear you say that. I would have done anything to hear those words from your mouth again. But…I can't do this anymore."

"Adam, can't we just talk?" Kim asked. "If Julia's here, I…"

"She's not here."  
"Oh."

"But I don't want to talk," Adam said. "I was ready to talk months ago, but you didn't want to try to work things out."  
"I know. I'm sorry."

"It took me a long time to get over you, to accept the fact that I would have to live my life without you. But I did it. I did get over you. I can't do this again. I'm sorry. I moved on."

"Right. Of course. I'm sorry," Kim said, blinking away tears.

"I think we should stay friends."

"Yeah. I'll um…see you at work."

Kim turned around. It took all of her energy not to run away with tears streaming down her face. She didn't let the tears fall until she had walked out of the building.

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone's kind words and encouragement throughout this story! One more chapter left!


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 – Together**

Adam stood in his apartment, staring at his closed door. It was as if he was willing the door to open again and for Kim to still be on the other side in the hallway. He knew she wasn't. He had pushed her away and he didn't know why. He had been waiting months for her to want to talk to him. In all that time he dreamed that she would admit that she was still in love with him. He had even suffered through Kim dating Roman, always holding on to hope that she would come around. She finally had and he had basically slammed the door in her face. Adam clenched and unclenched his fists. He had no one to blame for his unhappiness but himself. In that moment, he made a decision. He just hoped he wasn't too late.

Adam yanked his apartment door open and ran out into the hallway, his feet bare. He raced outside, practically knocking over an older woman who lived down the hall. She yelled at him, but Adam didn't even stop to say he was sorry. He had to catch Kim before she left. As he burst outside, he scanned the street, hoping to see her car. He spotted her, standing outside her car, desperately trying to find her keys in her purse.

"Kim!" Adam shouted.

She looked up at the sound of his voice. She immediately looked away, afraid of what he was going to say. She found her keys and tried using the remote to unlock the car. She wanted to get out of there. Adam jogged over to her.

"I don't want to fight," she said, wiping the tears from her eyes. She didn't want him to know that she had been crying.

"Neither do I."

"Look, Adam, I am sorry that I waited so long to tell you how I felt. And I'm sorry that I wasn't willing to talk before. I should have…"

"I want to be with you," Adam blurted out.  
Kim's eyes widened. "But you said…"

"I know what I said."

"I don't understand. I…"

Adam could think of only one thing to do to make her understand how he felt. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a long, fierce kiss. She practically melted in his arms, reveling in the familiar feel and taste of him. It wasn't until they were in need of air that they pulled apart. Even then, Adam kept his arms around her waist. He never wanted to let her go.

"I'm sorry," Kim said. "I'm sorry it took me so long to realize that I made a mistake. I should never have broken the engagement."

"No. This isn't your fault, Kim. We both made mistakes. I wasn't ready to get married. I should have realized that."

"But if I had been willing to talk to you and if I didn't jump into things with Roman. If…"

Adam silenced her with another kiss.

"I don't want to talk about Roman," he said when the kiss ended. "I'd be happy to never hear his name again."

"I'm sorry."

"You've got to stop apologizing."

She was about to apologize for all of her apologies, but she bit her tongue.

"Ok," she said. They fell into silence. Adam cupped her face with her hands.

"Something's going on in that beautiful brain of yours. What is it?"

She sighed. "I know I have no right to ask, but…have you…has there been anyone else? Did you sleep with Julia?"

Adam shook his head. "There hasn't been anyone."

Kim couldn't believe the relief that flooded through her. Even though she knew she wasn't being fair. She could only imagine how hard it must have been for Adam to see her with Roman when just thinking about seeing him with another woman was devastating.

"Why?" She choked out, near tears again.

"Isn't it obvious?" He asked. Kim shook her head, not understanding what he meant. "I didn't hook up with Julia or anyone else because they weren't you."

"Oh Adam," Kim whispered.  
"And it's funny because on the surface, Julia was perfect. She's smart, pretty, driven in her career. But she wasn't you and you're all I want." Adam paused. "I don't know when I'll be ready or a wedding, Kim, but I can promise you that you're it for me. You're the one I want."

"Maybe we can just put the wedding talk on hold for now until we're both ready," Kim suggested.

"This isn't another test, is it?" Adam asked.

"No. I think we need time to just be us for a while. Forget engagements and weddings. Let's just go back to us the way we were before."

"I like the sound of that."

As Adam leaned in to kiss her once more, the neighbor he had practically run into in the hallway, walked by them. The woman cleared her throat as if not approving of their public displays of affection.

"I guess we should go inside," Kim said sheepishly.

"Or we could give the old lady a show."  
Adam moved his hand down to Kim's butt and crushed his lips against hers. She played along, running her hands threw his hair. They both heard the woman scowl, but they didn't separate.

"We really should go in," Kim whispered as Adam trapped her earlobe between his teeth. She gasped. If they didn't make their way into Adam's apartment soon, there was a really good chance they'd both be naked on the sidewalk.

"You're no fun," Adam teased.

Adam took hold of her hand and led her back into the apartment building. He made sure to give a large grin to the woman who had interrupted them. When they made it back to Adam's apartment and shut the door, neither of them wasted any time. Their hands and lips were all over each other. Clothes were discarded haphazardly as they made their way into the bedroom. They both flopped down onto the bed, laughing. Adam hovered over her, staring into her brown eyes.

"What is it?" Kim asked. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I've waited for this moment for so damn long. I just want to relish in it for a minute."

"I'd prefer it if you would just kiss me."  
"Yes ma'am."  
He did as he was told.

The next morning, Adam woke up with Kim beside him. He smiled, knowing this time it wasn't a dream. She was really there. She was curled into his chest, using his forearm as a pillow. She looked incredibly content in her sleep. He couldn't stop staring at her. He wanted to burn the image of her into his mind. He never wanted to forget what it was like to be with her. It was the happiest he had ever been.

Unfortunately Adam knew that as much as he wanted to lay in the bed with her forever, he had to get up. He glanced over at the clock. He was supposed to be into work in a little over an hour. Adam debated whether he should leave Kim sleeping and not disturb her, but he didn't want to leave her without saying something. He didn't want her to think he was running away when that was the furthest thing from his mind. He wanted her to know how sure he was about their rekindled relationship.

Adam leaned over and kissed Kim lightly on the cheek. He brushed strands of hair back away from her face, trailing his thumb over her light skin. She sighed and slowly opened her eyes.

"Good morning," he whispered.

"Morning."  
Adam gave her a proper good morning kiss.

"What time is it?" Kim asked, fully awake from his kiss.

"7:43. I have to go into work."

"Me too," she said. "Although I would much rather stay in bed with you."

Kim rolled on top of him, kissing him hard. He reciprocated, wrapping his arms around her naked body. They were interrupted when Kim's alarm on her phone started going off.

"Guess that means we really need to get up," Adam said as Kim rolled off of him to stop her phone from annoyingly buzzing. When the phone was silent, she flopped back onto the bed on her back. She stared straight up at the ceiling.

"What are we going to do?" Kim asked.  
"About what?"

She rolled onto her side so she was facing him. She placed her hand on his chest, loving the feeling of his warmth.

"About work. About us. What are we going to tell everybody?"  
Adam shrugged. "What do you want to tell everybody?"  
"I don't know."

"Oh, come on, I know you too well for that. You always have some idea cooking that brain of yours."  
Kim smiled. She loved that he knew her so well.

"Maybe we should keep this to ourselves for right now," Kim suggested. "Just until we have more time to talk."

"I'm not changing my mind about us, Kim," Adam said, almost in a panic. He hoped she wasn't going to take back what was said the night before.

"I'm not either," she replied quickly. "But considering what's been going on in Intelligence with Voight and losing his son and my trial and Roman leaving…there's a lot going on."

Adam nodded. "You're right. We'll keep this between us."

She smiled. "Ok."

"But I'm not keeping us a secret forever."

"Just for now," Kim assured him.

"For now," he repeated. He leaned in and kissed her. "So, I guess we should go get dressed, huh?"  
"Well, maybe we could both use a shower first," Kim suggested. "After all, we did get pretty sweaty last night."

"I guess we did."

Adam hopped off the bed, a devious look in his eye. He grabbed Kim by the arms and as gently as possible, threw her over his shoulder. She squealed. He carried her off into the bathroom. As he went to turn the water on in the shower to heat up, Kim noticed something on his bathroom sink.

"My toothbrush," she said quietly.

"What?"

"You kept my toothbrush."

Adam glanced over at his sink. There were two toothbrushes in a plastic cup on the counter. One was blue and one was pink. He had stared at that toothbrush every morning since Kim had left. No matter what he told himself, he could never bring himself to throw it away. He was glad he didn't.

"I couldn't get rid of it," he said.

"I love you," Kim replied, still slung over his shoulder.

Adam stepped into the shower, the warm water soaking them both. He placed her back down on her feet.

"I love you, too."

An hour later, Adam walked up the steps to Intelligence. He tried to wipe the goofy smile off his face, but the truth was, he hadn't been that happy in a long time and his smile wasn't going to just go away. He knew, though, that the guys would know something was up if he didn't control himself and as he and Kim had agreed, they were keeping their relationship a secret. He had to act normal.

Adam felt like they were back to the beginning of their relationship. They were a secret then, too, but for different reasons. Adam had somehow managed to hide his happiness from everyone when they first started dating. He wasn't so sure if he could do it a second time around.

"Hey, have you seen Burgess?" Dawson asked as Adam walked over to his desk.

"What?" He immediately wondered how Dawson could know about his and Kim's new relationship status. Did he have it written on his forehead?

"Burgess? Have you seen her?"

"Why would I have seen her?" Adam replied, acting suspiciously, but trying not to.

"Because you just passed the desk downstairs. Platt said her shift started at 9:00. Platt was supposed to tell Burgess to come upstairs."

"No, I didn't see her downstairs. I haven't seen her."

"You ok?" Dawson wondered.

"Yeah, fine."  
Adam sat down at his desk, hoping Dawson was buying his story.

"So, how was your night?" Halstead asked, wheeling his chair over to Adam's desk.

"What do you mean?"  
"What happened with Julia? You guys left Molly's together."

"Oh. Ah…"

"You scored last night, didn't you?"

"Wait, Adam finally got laid last night?" Atwater asked, walking over and perching on the edge of Adam's desk.

"Yeah," Halstead responded. "That friend of Gabby Dawson's. Julia."

"Oooh. The hot realtor," Atwater added. "Good for you, man." He patted Adam on the back.

"I didn't say…" Adam began. He was interrupted when he saw Kim come up the steps. She glanced over at him, but didn't smile. Clearly she was trying to hide how she was feeling just as much as he was.

"I'm glad you finally got some man," Atwater continued. "You were looking pretty down for a while there."

"So, you think this is a one night stand thing or you going to see her again?" Halstead asked.

"I…ah…I don't know," Adam answered. He didn't know what else to say. He looked over at Kim. She could clearly hear their conversation.

"I'd see her again," Atwater stated. "If I were you."

"Atwater's right," Halstead agreed. "I mean, a man can't live without taking the edge off once in a while, you know."

"And if you're going to take the edge off, it mine as well be with someone who looks like Julia," Atwater added. "How was she in bed?"

"I…" Adam began, not sure how to respond. Thankfully, though, he didn't have. Kim stormed over to where they were sitting around Adam's desk. She had heard enough. She was not going to stand by and listen to them talk about how good Adam felt after sleeping with a woman he didn't even sleep with. She made up her mind before she even knew what was doing. Kim sat right down on Adam's lap, wrapped her arms around his neck, and planted a long, sensuous kiss on his lips.

Atwater and Halstead simply stared at each other, their mouths open. They were not expecting that.

"I don't think it was Julia that's got Adam grinning like a fool," Halstead said.

"I think you're right," Atwater agreed.

They backed off, heading to their own desks.

"What happened to keeping this between us?" Adam whispered to Kim after their kiss ended. She got off his lap, realizing how ridiculous they probably looked. She had temporarily forgotten that they were in the middle of the Intelligence office.

"I just didn't want the boys thinking there was somebody else making you this happy."

"So…"

"So I guess we're going public," Kim said.

"I'd say we already went public."

Kim laughed.

"Alright everyone, we've got something," Dawson said, holding up a case file. "So you two lovebirds are going to have to put your PDA on hold."

Kim's cheeks turned pink. As Dawson began clipping pictures to their whiteboard, Adam squeezed Kim's hand. She squeezed his back. Together, they knew they could survive anything.

Author's Note: A big thank you to everyone who read this story and a special thank you to those who took the time to review! This story was hard for me at times (mostly because of the breakup) and I have to admit, I'm glad it's over! I'm looking forward to possibly a third "Memories" story when the new season starts. I'm also working on a few multi-chapter Burzek ideas, but this time of year is always really busy for me so it might be a while before I can start posting anything. Thanks again and keep an eye out for more Burzek in the future!


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